Food for 7 Stages of Life: Sweets

Showing posts with label Sweets. Show all posts

Friday, January 15, 2010

Moong Dhal Halwa

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Friday, January 15, 2010

Moong Dhal halwa - Though this was completely new to me, TH & I completely liked the flavor and taste of this halwa. Thanks Srivalli for choosing Simran's recipe for this month's ICC.

Ingredients

Split (Yellow) Moong dhal - 1 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 3/4 cups to 1 cup (as per your taste)
Milk - 1/2 cup
Cashews/ raisins roasted in ghee for garnish.
Saffron - 1/8 tsp (Optional)

Method

Soak moong dal overnight or 8 hrs.

Grind to a smooth paste adding some water.
Heat the Kadai, with 1/2 of the ghee.
When it melts, add dhal paste and stir continuously so that lumps does not form. (This part is very tricky as the dhal cooks really fast, irrespective of the ghee)
Keep the heat at the lowest and keep stirring even after the dhal becomes thick.
Add the rest of the ghee intermittently and cook the dhal until aromatic and the ghee starts oozing out.

Meanwhile mix the sugar with milk in a pan and bring to a boil. Add this slowly to the cooking dhal.
Keep the flame low at all times and break lumps if formed while adding milk.

Cook until the ghee surfaces.

Garnish with cashews and raisins.

Notes:

1. Use a thick bottom pan or nonstick pan

2. Don't leave the halwa unattended. The dal can stick and it can go from just done to burnt in a second so keep stirring as much as possible. You should remember to keep stirring to prevent dhal from sticking irrespective of the ghee added.

3. I have used 1/4 cup of the dhal and reduced the other ingredients accordingly. But still I needed close to 1/2 cup of ghee and 1/2 cup of milk to attain the halwa texture.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Gulab Jamoon for ICC

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Monday, November 16, 2009

I decided to choose Alka's Gulab Jamoon for ICC among the 3 recipes given to us. You can enjoy this delectable dessert as it is or a add a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a twist.

Recipe:
For sugar syrup:
Ingredients:
Sugar - 500 gms (This can be reduced as per taste)
Water - 1 & 1/2 cup (bit more or less)
Cardamom - 2-3
One spoon of milk (optional)
Few threads of saffron (optional)
2-3 drops of rosewater (optional but highly recommended)
Method:
Mix about 500 gms of white sugar in one and half cup water and keep it for boiling.
Add a spoonful of milk to remove the impurities (impurities if any, will form a scum on surface)
Add 2-3 green cardamoms also in syrup for strong flavor, and a tad of saffron strings (optional)
Boil until you get just a tad sticky syrup. Gulab Jamun syrup is not very dense nor too dilute as in Rasgulla
Strain the syrup, add rosewater when syrup is slightly cooled.
Always remember two things while using rose water, do not add it while syrup is bubbling hot or on fire, and be particular about the quantity mentioned in every recipe, since even few drops of excess rosewater could lend a bitter taste to the final product.
For Gulab Jamun:
Ingredients:
Unsweetened Maawa* - 250 gms
All purpose flour - 1 & 1/2 - 2 tsp
Cornflour - 1 tsp
Green cardamom - 1-2 crushed
Oil for shallow frying
* (khoya-the condensed milk thickened till it turns into moist dough, preferably made from cow’s milk, also known as Hariyali mawa)
Method:
Mix all the ingredients in a wide mixing bowl until soft textured dough is obtained (keep mixing until it is really soft)
Make very small sized balls (bit larger than pebbles) as they swell up after frying and soaking in syrup
Make sure that the surface of dough balls is really smooth without any cracks. In case the cracks refuse to go away, slightly wet your palms with water and roll the flour till absolutely smooth.
Now take little oil for frying in preferably flat bottomed pan, and heat the oil. But gulab jamuns are to be fried on LOW FLAME or else the surface will be browned while the core will remain uncooked. Some prefer to place an unsalted pistachio in the center of every gulab jamun while making balls, that way the core of gulab jamun is not left uncooked .
Fry one or 2 gulab jamuns at a time and always remember to STIR THE OIL with slotted spoon AND NOT TO TOUCH GULABJAMUNS, which means keep swirling the oil without tossing or turning gulab jamun.
Fry till light brown in colour, remove on tissue paper and repeat the procedure with rest of dough.
Now soak these in COOL syrup for few hours. They will surely swell up
These can be stored in the same syrup till consumed
If there are cracks in the balls before frying it will burst open while frying, in that case adding a bit of cornflour will surely help.

Monday, August 31, 2009

Panchakhadya

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Monday, August 31, 2009

This recipe has been shared by Mints for ICC.

Ingredients

1 cup grated dry coconut
4-5 tbsp powdered sugar
2 tbsp poppy seeds / Khus Khus
4-5 dried dates (Maharashtrians call it kharik)
1/2 tbsp cardamom powder
4-5 tbsp coarsely powdered mixed nuts (almonds,cashews, pistachios)
pinch of nutmeg powder

Method

Dry roast grated coconut on a very light heat and set aside
Dry roast poppy seeds and grind them coarsely after cooling them for 5 minutes
Take the seeds off the dried dates and grind them coarsely as well.
Mix all these ingredients and nuts powder, cardamom, nutmeg, powdered sugar together and offer to Ganesha as prasad

Changes made by me:

Since I didn't have cashews & pistachios I have added some dried cranberry and almonds

I have not added nutmeg powder.

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Nugul-untallu (Sesame Laddoo )

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Sunday, August 30, 2009

Sesame laddoo or Nugul Untallu (Andhra) or Theel Untto(Sourashtra), however you call it they taste out of the world. This is served to Lord Ganesha on his birthday (Ganesha Chathurthi)

Ingredients

Black Sesame - 1/2 cup (Theel)

Jaggery - 2 1/2 tbsp (Gullu)

Method

1. Dry roast black sesame seeds until you hear some crackling sound of sesame.

2. Let it cool. Grind it in a mixie/blender along with jaggery into a fine powder.

3. As you grind sesame it becomes sticky, this will help the laddoo to hold together.
4. Take a portion and try to make smalls balls, if they stay in shape you are good to go. Repeat this step to continue making laddoos.

This is how you make laddoos: Take a portion of the sesame powder in your palm, and try to open and close your hand slowly (as the doctor pumps the machine when he/she checks Blood pressure for us) pressing it hard each time so that it holds together. :-)

This dish is being submitted to the Indian Cooking Challenge event.

The above recipe can be used to prepare laddoo's with white sesame seeds too. Please follow the same procedure but you will need 4 tbsp jaggery instead of 2 1/2 tbsp. I loved the black ones better.

Friday, August 14, 2009

Rice Noodles Payasam / Kheer

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Friday, August 14, 2009

We usually make kheer/payasam with vermicelli that is made out of semolina. This noodles or vermicelli is made from rice and it comes from Thailand. I bought this from one of the Indian stores to prepare lemon sevai but ended up using in payasam. It tastes like heaven in payasam as it is very soft, blends nicely with milk or condensed milk and it isn't chewy as the normal Indian vermicelli

Ingredients

Condensed Milk - 1 small can

Milk (Organic 2%)- 2 cup

Water - 2 cup

Sugar - 3 tbsp

Rice Vermicelli - 50 gm

Raisins - 20 / 2 tbsp

Cashews - 10

Ghee - 1 tbsp

Cardamon powder - 1/2 tsp

Vellarikkai Seeds (cucumber seeds) - 1 tsp [optional]

In a kadai, heat ghee, roast raisins, cashews, vellarikkai (cucumber) seeds. Remove when the raisins puff up. Keep them aside.

In a sauce pan, add Condensed milk, water. Stir it well. Now add milk and bring it to boil. At this stage add sugar and let it dissolve. Add Rice vermicelli and let it cook for 15-20 min on a medium low flame. The rice vermicelli becomes soft when it is cooked well. Add cardamon powder, stir and remove it from flame. Garnish it with raisins and cashews. You can serve it hot or cold, either way it tastes great. This is always in my get together menu as it is different from usual kheer/payasam and it is a super hit among my friends.

Garnish:

You can garnish it with nuts or fruits you could think of. I sometimes add dried cranberry too.

Can I use milk instead of condensed milk?

Yes. Then replace condensed milk+water with 8 cup of milk. Do not add water if you are using milk.

I would like to send this to Fall in Love (FIL) - Milk event hosted by Sanghi's food delights

I would like to send this entry to FIC-Zodiac sign event hosted by Sunshine Mom & Ashwini

Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Rava Laddoo

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Here goes the Rava Laddoo recipe for the Indian Cooking Challenge and its my birthday special too. This recipe is a tested recipe given by the host (Srivalli) of this event.

Ingredients

Rava/Semolina - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Grated coconut - 25 gm or little more than 1 3/4 tbsp
Milk - 25 ml / 1 1/8 tbsp (I actually added 4-5 tbsp as the mix was very dry)
Raisins - 10 nos
Cashew nut - 10 whole nuts
Cardamon Powder - 1 pinch
Ghee - 25 gm or little more than 1 3/4 tbsp

Method

In a kadai, heat 2 tsp of ghee. Once the ghee is hot enough reduce the flame and fry the cashews and raisins until the raisins balloon up. Remove.
Roast the grated coconut until it blends with the ghee. Remove. Amma says we shouldn't fry coconut for long time as it is unhealthy.
Now add the remaining ghee and roast the rava. Remove from flame when the aroma comes out.
In a bowl add raisins, cashews, coconut, rava, cardamon powder and mix it well. Please be cautious as it might be really hot.
Add sugar and mix it well.
Now add warm milk in to the bowl. Check if you are able to gather as balls. When you find that milk added is enough to get you laddoos, transfer it back to the kadai and cook in sim for 2 minutes. Mix well and then cover it and let it rest for 2 minutes. Then immediately make balls or laddoos.
Yummy rava laddoos are ready to serve.

P.S: To prepare the cardamon powder take 1 cardamon, remove the skin. Add the seeds, a pinch of sugar and powder it. I use the chappati roller to powder it.

I am glad to submit this dish for the Indian Cooking Challenge! Thanks Srivalli for inviting me to be part of this event.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Badusha

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Friday, October 31, 2008

This diwali is really a special one in my life as it is our first diwali after marriage(thalai deepavali in tamil). The sad thing is we are miles away from our parents and relatives. So it is only between two of us. I didn't want my hubby to miss the special things that he could get on diwali day and so I decided to prepare his favorite sweets n savories.

I also made his favorite Chicken Curry, chicken fry as its our custom to serve non-veg on this day. On the second day of diwali we went to the Flushing(New york) Ganesha temple which is 3 blocks away from my apartment. The urchavars were beautifully decorated with lots of ornaments and flowers. We thoroughly enjoyed our diwali though we missed our parents.

My Diwali Menu : Badusha, Milk Burfi, Coconut Macaroons, Seedai, Muruku.

A perfect badusha is the one that melts in your mouth and it cannot be achieved without using Ghee. For the same reason I like the badushas made in my native place (Salem). I used ghee while preparing dough but I got 90% satisfaction only as I used Oil to fry them. Badushas will taste much better when fried in Ghee. Also, my neighbour told me that we can replace water with curd/yogurt that makes the dough more softer. I should try that next time.

Ingredients

Maida (All purpose flour) - 2 cup
Ghee - 1 cup
Baking Soda - 1 pinch
Salt - 1 pinch
Water

Sugar Syrup

Sugar - 2 3/4 cup (for mild sweet)
Water - 1 3/4 cup
Cardamon powder - 2 pinch

Method
Sugar Syrup

Add water, sugar and bring it to boil until you get the one thread consistency. Add cardamon powder and Stir it well and then remove from flame.

Dough

Meanwhile, add maida, baking soda and salt. Mix it well. Add ghee, mix well and then add enough water and knead it to a soft dough. I added around 1 cup of water gradually. Let the dough be set aside for 30 minutes.
Now divide the dough in equal portions. Make a small ball just like you will do for chappatti's. Ensuring that there are no cracks, flatten it in your palm like a patty and press in the centre. I am not sure why we do this, but If I am right this will help the centre portion of the badusha to cook easily.
Heat oil in a kadai, do not over heat the oil. Fry badushas in a low flame until it turns golden brown. Place them on a napkin/kitchen towel and drain the excess oil.
Add badushas in the sugar syrup. You can let it soak for 8 hrs or overnight. This helps the sugar syrup to be absorbed evenly into the badushas. Me and my hubby were able to find a significant difference between the badusha soaked for 30 minutes to that soaked overnight. The later tasted better.

Enjoy this recipe and do let me know your comments.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Aval Pongal

Posted by RV @ Food for 7 Stages on Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I wanted to make Sakkarai Pongal for Navarathri, but then thought I can make something different. So came the Aval Pongal recipe.

Ingredients

Aval/Poha - 1 cup
Milk - 3/4 cup
Jaggery - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 15
Cashew - 10
Dates(deseed and chop) - 10 [optional]
Cardamon Powder - 1/4 tsp
Pachai Karpuram - 1 pinch
Vanilla extract - 2 drops [optional]
Badam(chopped) - 5 [optional]
Ghee - 1/2 cup

Method

Wash aval with water.
Heat ghee in a sauce pan and fry raisins,badam and cashews until the color changes. Remove them from the pan.
Add milk, when it starts boiling add aval and jaggery.
Add ghee.
When Aval starts thickening, add cardamon powder, pachai karpuram, vanilla extract, dates, raisins, cashews and badam.
Mix it for 2-3 minutes and remove it from flame.

I couldn't take a nice picture of this dish will post it when I prepare it next time.
* You can add or reduce jaggery and ghee according to your taste.