Kala Jamun

Image Credit : http://www.indianspicesgroceriessweets.com/

Kala Jamun, a dark brown colour jamuns coated with desiccated coconut powder is a variation to normal gulab jamuns which are larger in size when compared to the gulab jamuns and also much tastier.

• Khoya  200 Grams
• Paneer  50 Grams
• All purpose flour  30 Grams
• Soda 1 Pinch
• Sugar  1 Cup
• Cardamom powder ½ Teaspoons
• sooji 20 Grams
• Pistachio  10 Grams
• Almonds 10 Grams
• Saffron water 2 Tablespoons
• Oil for deep fry 2 Cup

Direction : 

Take a bowl add grated khoya, paneer, all purpose flour, soda, sugar, cardamom powder, sooji and mix it gently. Add little bit of water and make it into a dough and knead the dough well. Take a small bowl add soaked and chopped pistachio, almonds, saffron water and small portion of dough mix it well. Divide the white and colored dough into equal portions. Take the white dough spread it then stuff the coloured dough into it and close make a bullet shape, repeat the same process for entire dough. For sugar syrup take a pan add sugar and some water and bring to boil, and boil till syrup is one string consistency. Once all the jamuns are ready heat oil fry in a low flame till they are golden brown. Add these jamuns to hot sugar syrup soak for at least 30 minutes.

Gujiya

Image Credit : http://www.exoticabazaar.com/

• Khoya/mawa crumbled2/3 cup
• Refined flour (maida) 1 cup
• Ghee 3 teaspoons
• Oil to deep fry
• Dried figs chopped 1/2 cup
• Seedless dates chopped 1/2 cup
• Cashewnuts chopped 10
• Almonds chopped 10
• Walnuts chopped 10

Direction 

 1. For the pastry, sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the ghee with your fingertips till the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add one-fourth cup and one tablespoon of cold water and knead into a stiff dough. Cover with piece of damp muslin and set aside for fifteen minutes. For the filling, heat a non-stick pan; add the khoya and sauté for three minutes or till the fat separates. Set aside to cool.

2. Add the figs, dates, cashew nuts, almonds and walnuts, and mix well. Divide into twelve equal portions.

 3. Divide the dough into twelve equal portions and shape into balls. Roll out each ball into a puri.

 4. Place one portion of the stuffing on one half of the puri, lightly moisten the edges, fold the other half over the stuffing and press the edges to seal. Pinch the edges to make a design.

5. Heat sufficient oil in a non-stick kadai; gently slide in a few gujiya at a time, and deep-fry for five to six minutes or till golden brown.

6. Drain on absorbent paper and store in an airtight container when completely cold. 

Balushahi

Ingredients

•Refined flour (maida)                1 1/2 cups

•Baking soda                             1/4 teaspoon

•Pure ghee                                 6 tablespoons + for deep-frying

•Yogurt,whisked                        4 tablespoons

•Sugar                                       2 cups

•Milk                                         2 tablespoons

•Pistachios,finely chopped          4-5

Method

Sift the flour and baking soda together into a large bowl. Add six tablespoons ghee and rub it into the flour mixture till it resembles breadcrumbs. Meanwhile cook the sugar with one cup water, stirring occasionally, till all the sugar dissolves. Add the milk so that the scum rises to the surface. Carefully remove this scum and discard. Continue to cook till the syrup reaches a two string consistency. Add the yogurt to the flour and knead into a soft dough. Take care not to overwork the dough. Cover the dough with a damp cloth let it stand for forty five minutes. Divide the dough into twelve equal portions and shape into smooth balls. If you wish you can make them smaller. Make a slight dent in the center of each ball with your thumb. Keep the balls covered. Heat the remaining ghee in a kadai on medium heat. Gently slide in the dough balls, a few at a time, and deep fry on low heat. If necessary you may place a tawa below the kadai so that the ghee does not get too hot. Gradually the balushahis will start floating to the top. Turn gently and cook on the other side till golden. The entire process may take around half an hour to forty five minutes. Drain on absorbent paper. Set aside to cool for forty five minutes or till they reach room temperature. Soak the cooled balushahis in warm syrup for two hours. Gently remove the balushahis from the sugar syrup and place on a serving plate. Garnish with chopped pistachios. Let it remain thus for two to three hours when the sugar syrup will form a thin white layer over the balushahis. Serve.

Boondi Laddoo

Ingredients Needed To Prepare Laddoo 
1. Gram Flour (Besan) – 300 grams (This should be slightly coarse) 2. Milk – ½ Litre 3. Sugar – 300 grams 4. Cardamom Powder- A pinch 5. Water – 500 ml 6. Saffron – A pinch 7. Food Color – Orange (This is optional) 8. Oil For Deep Frying. 

 An important tool needed to prepare Boondi is a strainer. The fineness of the holes in the strainer gives the desired shape of the boondi. There is no specific size that it is needed. It is totally dependant how you would like it. Its size and shape doesn’t affect the taste of the Laddoo.

How To Prepare Boondi LaddooAdd sugar to the water and start boiling it for the next 3-4 minutes.The scum of the sugar will be floating on the top. Remove the layer of scum. Continue boiling till it thickens. Add the cardamom powder to it and keep it aside. Mix the gram flour with milk and make it into a smooth paste without any lumps.

Heat sufficient amount of oil in a deep frying pan and heat the oil.Pass the gram flour batter through the strainer. Tap the strainer so that the flow is even and smooth. The oil should be very hot so that the frying is done rapidly. When the color turns golden brown take it out. Complete doing this till all the batter is over. Next dip the boondis in the sugar syrup that was previously prepared. After soaking them for few minutes, spread them on a plate evenly. Sprinkle hot water over this mixture and cover it with a cloth and leave it for 10 minutes.

Moisten your palms with water and roll this mixture into small balls. The size can be rolled as per your choice but make sure that all the balls are of equal shape and size.

There is another sweet that is commonly offered to Lord Ganesh is Peda. This again has plenty of varieties like Kesar Peda, Mawa/Khoya Peda, Apple Peda, Malai Peda (Malai- Cream) and many more. The basic way of preparing it is with Mawa/Khoya. To this, various flavorings are added to create varieties.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:      

1 cup Carnation Milk Powder

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tablespoons butter -melted

Whole milk just enough to make the dough

For the Sugar Syrup

2 cups Sugar

1 cup water

Oil for frying

How to make gulab jamun:

Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick, butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough. Divide the dough into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.

Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.

If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.

The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.

Sugar Syrup

The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed and a few strands of "Kesar". Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.

Transfer this hot syrup into a serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamun balls in sugar syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.

chum chum

Ingredients:

250 gms cottage cheese (paneer)

2 tblsp refined flour (maida)

1 cup sugar (cheeni)

1 cup water

2 - 3 drop lemon colour

100 gms condensed milk (unsweetened)

1/4 tsp green cardamom (chhoti elaichi) powder

few saffron (kesar) strands

How to make chum chum:

Melt sugar in water and heat up to make a thin syrup.

Knead the paneer with flour and shape into oval shaped fingers, mix in them to the sugar syrup and boil for eight minutes.

Take off from heat up and mix in lemon color to the syrup. Cool for a while and take off the chum-chums from the syrup.

Mix in saffron and cardamom powder to sugarless, creamy, condensed milk. spread this on each piece and serve cold.

Laddoo Recipes

Image courtesy: © Thinkstock photos/ Getty Images

The Diwali sweet menu is just not complete without laddoos, is it? Well, this year instead of just the usual besan and boondi laddoos, try out some new recipes. I got my mom to reveal three of her favourite Diwali laddoo recipes to sweeten your Diwali celebrations. 

Besan Laddoo Recipe

Ingredients 
500 gms besan
1 kg powdered sugar; 
250 gms ghee 
10 gms cardamoms.

Method
1) Heat ghee. Add gram flour and fry. Remove pan from fire. Cool. 
2) Add powdered sugar. Mix well. Add crushed cardamoms. 
3) Form into even-shaped balls. 
4) Sticky sugar syrup can be prepared and the fried gram flour can be added to it and then prepared into balls, if desired.

Muesli Laddoo Recipe
 
Ingredients 
2 cups muesli
3/4 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup powdered sugar 
150 gms peanut butter 
8 to 10 chopped dates

Method 
1) Roast the muesli lightly so that it gets warm. Also roast the wheat flour. 
2) Mix together muesli, wheat flour, powdered sugar and chopped dates. 
3) Now add the peanut butter little by little and make into laddoos. It helps to make the laddoos when the mixture is warm. Cool it and store.  
Tip: This makes a excellent mithai for people who are restricted from having high calorie ghee. (Peanut butter is a healthier substitute for ghee.)

Cheesy Laddoo Recipe

Ingredients
½ cup paneer
½ cup khoya (or fine ricotta cheese) 
3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla or cardamom powder
Chopped nuts for decoration

Method
1) Knead the paneer very well so that no lumps are left. 
2) Next sieve the khoya and mix it with paneer. 
3) Add sugar, vanilla or cardamom, and mix very well. 
4) Make small laddoo and decorate with chopped nuts. Keep in refrigerator until ready to offer.

Image and Recipe Credit: Idiva.com 

Gajar Halva

Gajar halva is a luxurious Indian dessert made from carrots slowly cooked down with sweetened milk and spices. This version is fast enough for weeknights and brings the warmth of the Indian sun to mind

.
Ingredient: 

• 1 pound carrots, coarsely grated
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

• Accompaniment: whole-milk plain yogurt

Method: 

Bring carrots, cream, raisins, sugar, and cardamom to a boil with 1/8 teaspoon salt in a 3- o 3 1/2-quart heavy saucepan, then cover and gently boil, stirring occasionally, until most of liquid has evaporated, about 25 minutes. Uncover and boil, stirring often, until liquid has evaporated, about 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Image Credit: http://www.blogymate.com/post.aspx?blogid=2886&t=CARROT-HALWA-RECIPE

Recipe Credit: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Quick-Gajar-Halva-351296

Jalebi

Jalebis are small, bright yellow, web-shaped cakes similar to funnel cakes. They are popular celebration and street cakes in Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, and India. Soaking them in saffron syrup and then drying them gives the cakes a crispy outer shell. They are made with maida flour (a finely milled wheat flour) and Bengal gram flour (a flour milled from chickpeas), both of which can be found at Indian groceries. If you can't find them, use cake or pastry flour. If you can find fresh yeast, use it instead of the dry yeast; that is the traditional method and it adds to the flavor.

Ingredients: 

• 1 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon plus 2/3 cup water
• 1 1/2 cups maida flour
• 2 teaspoons Bengal gram flour
• 1 1/2 tablespoons ghee, melted
• 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 drops yellow food coloring
• 2 cups ghee for frying, melted
• 1 3/4 cups lime-saffron syrup

Preparation: 

To make the batter
Dissolve the yeast in 1 tablespoon of the water and let sit for just 10 minutes, and no longer. In a large bowl, combine the maida flour and Bengal gram flour. Add the yeast, melted ghee, sugar, lemon juice, yellow food coloring, and remaining 2/3 cup water and mix until there are no more lumps.

To fry the jalebis
Melt enough ghee in a heavy-bottomed pot to fill it 1 inch deep. Line plates with paper towels for draining the fried cakes. Pour the lime-saffron syrup into a saucepan over low heat, to keep it warm. Fit a pastry bag with a small writing tip, and pour the batter into the bag.

Squeeze 2-inch round whorls of batter into the hot ghee, working closely from the center out. Fry until golden brown on the bottom, then flip to fry on the other side until it's golden brown. Remove the jalebis from the oil and set on paper towels to drain. Transfer the hot cakes to the lime-saffron syrup and let soak for a minute or two.

To serve
Serve the jalebis warm in small bowls with syrup. Or you can remove the jalebis from the syrup and set on a rack to dry for 3 to 4 hours, until the syrup has formed a hard shell.

Variation
Indian Spice Jalebi Add 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom to the batter and 3 whole cloves to the syrup.

Image and Recipe Credit: epicurious.com