Nutty Doodh Peda / Nutty milk fudge

If you google microwave doodh peda, you will get  many hits. Most of them use milk powder, butter, condensed milk. When I made it for the first time some time back, I had added shredded coconut to it for a change and I liked it very much. Recently, I ate a burfi in someone's place. People ask me to guess what it is and when I said milk peda, the host said I am wrong and it is badam burfi. I couldn't believe it so asked her the recipe. What she told was the recipe of microwave doodh peda but with almonds added. I added cashews for a change. My whole family loved it. This is an easy recipe, so you can make it in a jiffy. But beware, this is addictive. Since it is one of those sweets which is not sickeningly sweet, it is hard to stop eating it.

Ingredients: 
Condensed milk - 1 can (You could use low fat or fat free)
Non fat dry milk powder - 2 cups
1 cup of nuts toasted, powdered - I used cashews here. Use nuts of your choice
Butter - 1 stick or 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Saffron - few strands (optional)

Method:
Take a deep microwavable bowl. Melt butter in it. Take the toasted, cooled nuts in a blender jar.
Add dry milk powder to it and pulse. It need not be a fine powder. Coarse powder adds a texture to the end product. Go ahead and powder it fine if that is how you like it. Add the condensed milk to the melted butter and dump all the dry mix to it. Mix well and microwave for 5 minutes at 1 minute intervals. (My microwave is not a very powerful one, stop microwaving when you see color change in the mixture. It took 5 minutes in mine, but might be more or less in yours.) Stir between each interval. Add powdered cardamom, saffron if using and mix well. Let it cool for 10 minutes.

To shape:
Either you can grease your hands with some ghee and shape into pedas. I used the easier method of pouring into a 8" square pan lined with wax paper. Smooth and let it set for about 30 minutes before cutting. It actually becomes easier to cut if you put it in the refrigerator for some time. Either make them into squares or use cookie cutters to get pretty shapes. Keep it refrigerated.

Enjoy.

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Badam Halwa / Almond Pudding

Sometime back, one of my friends had a birthday party at her place. She had made her husband drive an hour to get few dishes from a known restaurant. I told her it is not worth driving so much until she uncovered the Badam Halwa from that restaurant. I tasted one spoon and declared it was worth it to drive that distance for that halwa. But, what I didn't like was the quarter inch ghee floating on the top. Here is a version that doesn't have too much ghee but tastes delicious. If you are one of those lucky skinny ones who can eat like a horse and not gain weight, add 1/4 - 1/3 cup more ghee.

One Year Back - Peanut Butter Cookies
Two Years Back - Avocado Brioche, Roasted Banana Ice cream
Three Years Back - Deep fried cracker ( Nippattu )Ingredients:
Almonds (whole) - 2 1/2 cups (You could already blanched almonds)
Milk - 3/4 - 1 cup
Sugar - 2 cups (You can use 2 1/2 cups but I don't like overly sweet dessert)
Ghee - 1/2 cup (You could use up to 3/4 cup)
Saffron - few strands
Food coloring - few drops (optional. Use yellow or orange)
Cardamom - 10 powdered

Method:
Blanch the almonds: (If using blanched almonds, skip this step)
Take all the almonds in a saucepan. Cover with enough water so that water is an inch above the almonds. Place it on the heat and let the water come to a boil. Let it boil for 3 minutes or so. Turn off the heat and drain all the hot water and add cold water to the same pan. Let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes. You will see the skin wrinkle up and it will be very easy to peel just by pressing the almond between the fingers. Drain the almonds in a colander.

Making the Halwa:
Take the blanched almonds in a blender and add little by little milk to make a coarse paste. Try to get the coarse cornmeal or Rawa kind of a texture. Set aside.
In a nonstick pan, heat 2 TBSP of ghee. To this, add the ground paste and keep on stirring to prevent sticking and burning. Add sugar, saffron and mix well. It will splatter every where so keep the heat medium and keep on stirring continuously. After about 10 minutes, you can add the rest of the ghee and continue stirring. When the halwa is done, it will be the consistency of the thick pudding and the mixture will ooze out ghee. It also will stop sticking to the pan. Add Cardamom powder and few drops of food coloring if desired and mix well and turn off. Transfer the contents to a different dish to cool. Serve at room temperature. You could mold them into different shapes if you have the cute molds. Or spread between two sheets of wax paper and cut them into desired shape. They won't be hard as burfi. They are more like soft peda consistency.

Notes:
I did initial cooking in the microwave. Take 2 TBSP of ghee, ground paste and sugar and mix well in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high heat for 20 minutes in the interval of 5 minutes. Then transfer the contents to the non stick pan and proceed with the stove top method.

Enjoy.

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Vegan Butternut Squash Sweet drink / Payasa

It is Diwali or Deepavali this week for those who celebrate it. For those who do not know much about this festival, it is a festival of lights which is celebrated in different ways in different parts of India. But three things are common however this festival is celebrated. Oil lit lamps, new clothes and sweets. Most of the sweets are made so that they can be packed nicely and given to each other. Since we don't do those things here (try driving for an hour to go to one friend's place to give a box of sweets), I decided to make a not so rich sweet drink or what we call 'payasa'  in kannada language just for the house. It is very similar to carrot kheer that most of the people make.
Wishing all of you a happy diwali, I share this dessert drink virtually with all of you and of course its recipe.

One Year Back - Pumpkin Cranberry Bread
Two Years Back - Party Cooking Tips
Ingredients:
Butternut squash - 1 medium peeled, cleaned and chopped into chunks
Water - 4 cups
Coconut milk - 1 cup (Use plain milk for non vegan version  or use almond milk)
Cashews - 1/2 cup (Or almonds)
Sugar - 1 - 1 1/2 cups
Cardamom - 8 - 10 pods crushed into powder

Method:
In a pan, take all the butternut squash pieces. Pour two cups of water, cashews or almonds and cover with a lid and let it cook till soft. Turn off the heat. When cool enough to handle, take the contents in a blender and blend to get smooth puree. Don't add any water. Pour the puree back into the pan. Add 2 more cups of water and stir well. Turn on the heat. Add coconut milk or almond milk. Stir and bring it to a slow boil on a low flame. Add sugar (start with 1 cup and increase if needed) and let it simmer for few minutes stirring occasionally. Add cardamom powder and stir and turn off the heat. This can be served warm/hot in colder weather and cold in hot weather.

Notes:
Depending on how big the butternut squash is, you might have to adjust the water to get the desired consistency. It also depends on whether you like thick drink or thin one.

Enjoy.

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Mango Creamsicles / Easy mango kulfi

Anything mango is welcome in my house. Be it mango lassi, mango milk shake, mango mousse, mango ice cream, mango sherbet and this mango kulfi. I had promised my kids that I would make mango ice cream for them, but ran out of time. So, this was a quick fix to keep up my promise. It is delicious, but not very sweet. Add sugar if you have sweet tooth.

One Year Back - Vegan Banana Bread, No Knead Coconut and Chillies flat bread
Two Years Back - Methi Malai Mutter
Ingredients: 
Sweetened mango pulp - 3 cups
Cream cheese - One 8 Oz block softened (I used low fat but you could use fat free)
Milk - 1 cup (I used 2 % )
Optional - Sugar about 1/4 cup. This is not very sweet kulfi unless you add sugar.
Optional - cardamom powder to flavor the creamsicles

Method:
With an electric mixer (hand mixer is just fine here), blend the cream cheese till no lumps remain (My cream cheese hadn't softened till mushy. You can see small specks of it). Slowly add sweetened mango pulp and continue to beat till everything is mixed well. Add milk and stir. Freeze in popsicle molds or 3 Oz cups. I filled less in a 5 Oz cup since I was out of 3 Oz cups and I don't have so many popsicle molds. You will get about 14 - 18 popsicles out of this depending on how big the molds are.

Enjoy.

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Cream cheese cocoa truffles

If you love chocolate, you will definitely love truffles.
If you love truffles, you will not like one thing about them. Their cost.
So, here is an alternative to those expensive truffles but very delicious at the same time.

 

This recipe doesn't have any fancy chocolate in it. Just cocoa powder, butter, cream cheese and sugar. Of course, you can coat it with candy coating to get the shell but I didn't. I kept them as they are - soft.

One Year Back - Strawberry Rhubarb Jam
Two Years Back - Whole Wheat Cinnamon Rolls with apple butter
Ingredients: 
Cream cheese - 8 Oz block softened (I used regular but you can use 1/3 fat one too)
Butter - 1/2 cup or 1 stick (8 TBSP) melted
Unsweetened cocoa - 1 1/4 cups
Confectioner's sugar - 4 cups (You could increase it up to 5 cups for a sweeter truffle)
Vanilla - 2 tsp
More confectioner's sugar to roll if desired

Method:
Mix the cocoa with melted butter and beat till well combined. Add cream cheese to it and beat well. It has to be really smooth with no lumps in it. Add confectioner's sugar cup by cup and continue to beat. Beat the vanilla in. Refrigerate for at least an hour or two for easier handling. Roll them into small balls and roll them in confectioner's sugar or more cocoa powder. Refrigerate till serving.

Enjoy.

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Tapioca Vermicelli Pudding/Kheer (Seeme akki Shavige Payasa)

We all have our favorites and things we almost hate. But have you ever wondered that our taste changes as we grow? I never liked tapioca pudding or kheer when I was a kid. The slippery tapioca somehow didn't make it interesting for me. That is until I ate it at a friend's place where they had made it with half vermicelli and half tapioca. I just loved it. I have made it a lot of times since then. It looks like a lengthy process, but is pretty easy.

One Year Back - Fenugreek Pulav / Methi Pulav
Two Years Back - Sourdough Chocolate Cake, Sev / Kara Sev
Ingredients:
Pearl Tapioca/ Sago / Sabudana - 1 cup
Vermicelli / Shavige / Semiya - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 1/4 - 1 1/2 Cups
Water - 4 cups (See Notes)
Milk - 3 1/2 - 4 cups (It gets thick as it cools down. You might have to add more to thin it down)
Ghee - 3 - 4 TBSP
Cashews - 2 - 3 TBSP
Raisins - 2 - 3 TBSP
Cardamom - Powdered from 6 pods
Saffron - few strands (optional)

Method:
Soak pearl tapioca in enough water for 30 minutes to an hour. Drain the water after that time. Take the drained tapioca in a saucepan and add 4 cups of water to it. Start cooking till tapioca is cooked and is soft. Keep stirring in between to avoid sticking. When this cooking is happening, dry roast vermicelli or shavige. Alternately, you could use the already roasted vermicelli in which case, you don't have to do this step. When the vermicelli is golden brown, and the tapioca is cooked, add warm milk to tapioca followed by vermicelli. Let the vermicelli cook till soft. Lower the heat and add sugar to it along with saffron strands. Mix well and keep stirring frequently. In a small pan, heat ghee. When hot, add cashews and fry till golden followed by raisins. Add this to the simmering kheer and mix well. Finally add cardamom powder, mix and turn off the heat. Let it cool a bit before serving. You could serve this warm or cold. It thickens as it cools and if it is too thick, add more milk to thin it down to the desired consistency.

Notes:
If you use the tapioca pearls that are very small which are made for kheer, you only need 3 cups of water or even less. 

Enjoy.

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Gulab Jamun (Easier version)

I know what you are all thinking. What do you mean by an easier version of Gulab Jamun? The easier one is to bring a packet of Gulab Jamun mix and make them. Right? Not really.  What I meant when I said easy Gulab Jamun is to make it from scratch, but in an easy way. There are many recipes of Gulab Jamun - some made with khoya or solidified milk. If I have to make khoya at home, I will probably drop the idea of making the dessert itself. You see, I am not blessed with a lot of patience. So, when I saw a recipe in a book titled 'Food of India' that used milk powder to make the jamun, I jumped at it to try. I had everything the recipe called, but I tweaked a bit and made changes to the recipe. Result was so wonderful that I would never buy a pack of Gulab Jamun mix ever again.

One Year Back - Honey Cardamom Snack Cake
Two Years Back - Baklava, Eggless Pumpkin Brioche
Ingredients: 
For the dough:
Non fat dry milk powder - 1 cup
All purpose flour - 1/4 cup
Baking powder - 3/4 tsp
Salt - a small pinch
Ghee or butter - 2 TBSP (melted or very soft)
Milk - 3 - 4 TBSP (start with just 3 TBSP and add more as needed)
Oil for deep frying

For the syrup:
Sugar - 2 cups
Water - 2 1/2 cups
Rose water essence or cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Method:
In a bowl, mix together dry milk powder, all purpose flour, baking powder, salt. Add ghee or butter and mix till all the ghee is incorporated. Slowly add milk to make the dough. Knead it couple of times till you can make a small ball and roll it to an almost smooth texture. Little ridges are fine. If you are having hard time making it smooth, spray a little bit of vegetable oil spray on to your hands. Or brush a bit of melted ghee to the hand to help the process. Meanwhile, heat oil in a frying pan at medium heat.
In another pan, heat sugar and water stirring occasionally till sugar dissolves. Bring it to a full boil and turn off the heat. Add the flavorings of choice. That is cardamom powder or rose water essence. Keep the syrup warm.

Take the dough and divide it into 18 - 20 portions. It will look like very small amount, but don't worry. It will expand when fried and soaked in the syrup. Roll them as smooth as possible. To check the oil, drop a small ball. It should go down and slowly come up and start floating. If it stays at the bottom for too long, oil is not hot enough. If it floats very soon, oil is very hot. It should be fried in medium hot oil. Fry few balls at a time moving them often so they brown evenly all over. Drain well and drop them into warm syrup. Repeat with the rest of the dough. Let the Jamuns soak for at least 30 minutes before serving. Left overs need to be refrigerated. They stay fine in the refrigerator for about 5 days if it is not gone by then. Some people like it at room temperature, some cold, but I like them warm. You can always warm them for few seconds in the microwave before serving.

Enjoy.

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Carrot Ricotta Halwa/Dessert Pudding

Most of the Indian sweets/desserts are rich. And there are some which can be made either the rich way or not so rich way. Carrot Halwa is one such dessert. Many people use so much ghee/clarified butter in it that I have seen the fat floating on the top. That makes me not to eat it at all. On the top of using so much fat, they add khoya to it (which is nothing but very thick, almost crumbly mass made by heating high fat milk for hours together). This one has very less fat compared to many recipes, but I have used ricotta cheese to bring the same richness to the dessert.

One year back - Apricot Orange Bread, Mango Chiffon Cake, Portuguese Sweet Bread
Two years back - Iyengar Bakery Toast/Indian Bruschetta
Ingredients:
Peeled Grated Carrots - 4 cups (Use medium grater, not the fine grater)
Milk - 2 cups (I used 2 %)
Ricotta cheese - 1 cup (I used part-skim) (Or use crumbled paneer)
Ghee or butter - 4 TBSP divided use
Cashews - 3 TBSP or more
Raisins - 3 TBSP or more
Sugar - 2 cups (Or 1/2 cup more for a sweeter halwa)
Cardamom - 5 pods powdered

Method:
Take a heavy bottomed saute pan. Heat 2 TBSP of ghee or butter. When it melts, add the grated carrots. Keep stirring frequently for about 2 - 3 minutes. Add milk and stir. Let it boil on moderately high heat stirring frequently. When the carrot is cooked and almost all the milk has evaporated, add sugar and mix. It will become liquidy again. Reduce the flame to medium and continue to stir frequently until it looks as if all the moisture has evaporated. Add ricotta cheese or paneer and stir to combine. Let it simmer on low heat. At the same time, heat the remaining 2 TBSP of ghee or butter. When it melts, fry cashews followed by raisins till cashews are golden and raisins are plump. Add this to the pudding pot. Mix well. Let the halwa thicken more and turn off the heat when you start seeing ghee or the fat at the sides of the pan. Add cardamom powder and stir. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Notes:
If you use organic carrots or kind of carrot that is very sweet naturally, reduce the sugar by few TBSP. You could skip adding ricotta completely and make Carrot Halwa. In that case, you will need to use more ghee to give it the richness.

Enjoy.

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Akki Kadalebele Payasa / Rice and lentil dessert pudding

Indians are notorious for using lentils or dal in every kind of dish. It could be fritters or it could be a main dish or dessert. South Indians, in particular are famous for making many dessert puddings using lentils. This one is such a preparation. It is in fact one of the easiest and simplest desserts you can make and is not all that bad for you if you over look the sugar part. This one doesn't have too much butter/ghee which can be quite taxing on the body. Coconut gives a very nice taste, but you could reduce it by half if you are watching your coconut intake. Jaggery is an acquired taste. If you are skeptical about how it tastes, use white sugar instead. It will still be delicious.

One year back - Vegan Coconut Cookies
Two years back - Green mango, onion subzi/Curry
Ingredients:
Kadale bele/Chana dal/dehusked, split black chickpeas - 1 1/2 cups
Rice - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1 1/2 cup - 2 cups or more (See Notes)
Water - 4 - 4 1/2 cups
Jaggery - 2 - 2 1/2 cups (powdered and then measured)
Cardamom - powder from 8 pods
Ghee - 3 TBSP
Broken cashews - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 1/3 cup
Grated coconut - 3/4 cup - 1 cup

Method:
Dry roast lentil and rice together till nice aroma comes. Rinse well with water. Drain. Add twice the amount of water (4 cups in this case) and pressure cook for 3 whistles. When the pressure is released, take the pan out. You will see that rice is mushy and dal is soft. If you like, you can mash it roughly with a potato masher. There will still be whole dal left which is very soft.
In a pan, combine jaggery and 1/2 cup of water. Bring it to a boil stirring so that all the jaggery melts. When you see bubbles all over, add the cooked rice and dal mixture. Mix well. Bring it to a boil. Add milk, cardamom powder, grated coconut and stir. This gets thick as it cools, so adjust the liquid consistency according to your taste. Lower the heat to keep the mixture simmering. Meanwhile, heat ghee in a pan and when hot, toast cashews and raisins. Add that to the now simmering mixture of dal and rice. Stir and turn off the heat. This tastes great warm or cold.

Notes:
Some people serve this thick so that you eat with a spoon and some people serve it so that you can drink it in a cup. Adjust the milk quantity as per the need to thin out the dish. If you cannot get jaggery, you can use light brown sugar.

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Easy Fudge

When you visit someone's house for the first time, what do you usually take? People get some small gifts and I usually don't do that. I prefer to just take some fruits or flowers and try not to add one more 'thing' to their basement collection. My theory is - if they have lived here for more than a decade, they have pretty much collected everything that they want to use or display. We were visiting someone this weekend and they have a teenage daughter. I made this fudge to take it for her. I will warn you one thing though. It is very addictive and is quite rich. So, make it to give it away or when you have company. Don't blame me if you made it and gained 5 pounds in a weekend.

One year back - Green Rice
Two years back - Cranberry Rice
Ingredients:
Sweetened Condensed milk - 1 can (14 Oz)
Milk Chocolate Chips - 2 cups (12 Oz bag)
White Chocolate Chips - 1 cup (Or more milk or semi sweet chocolate chips)
Butter - 1/4 cup or 1/2 stick
Vanilla - 1 tsp

Method:
Line a 8 X 8 pan with aluminum foil and butter the foil. Set aside. You can use a microwave for this or stove top method. Whatever you chose, mix all ingredients except vanilla and heat till all chocolate chips melt and mix with the condensed milk and butter. Keep stirring to avoid burning. If you chose to do it in a saucepan over stove top, keep the heat to low. Stir in vanilla. Pour into the prepared pan. Tap few times to remove air bubbles. Place in the refrigerator to set for at least 2 hours. When set, remove the foil and transfer the fudge on to a cutting board. Cut into small pieces. I got 36 pieces out of this. Now that I think of, I could've cut them into 7 X 7 to get 49 pieces. Keep them in the refrigerator and enjoy sparingly.

Variation:
You could make it a low fat dessert by using fat free condensed milk.

Enjoy.

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Pumpkin Coconut Smoothie / Pumpkin Prathaman

I am not a very active blogger in the blogger community. I don't write updates on facebook or twitter. I don't talk to a lot of people. It is not that I don't want to, but it is practically impossible for me with all the stuff I do. But, there are some exceptions. I do chat once in a while with few fellow bloggers and one such friend is Srivalli. When she told me about the sudden, untimely death of  'Jayasree', author of 'Experiments in Kailas Kitchen', I didn't know how to react. I didn't know Jayasree. Neither personally nor through the blog interactions. I did remember myself trying a dish from her blog and giving her the feedback. I had not blogged about it and it feels perfect to blog about it now in her memory. Even when I didn't know her, there was something in common between us and numerous food bloggers. We love food and we love to talk about it. It is a very strong passion that can make you friends with unseen people.

One year back - Vegan Pumpkin Snack Cake
Adapted from - Experiments in Kailas Kitchen
Ingredients:
Pumpkin Puree - 1 1/2 cups (I used Canned)
Coconut milk - 1 can (15 to 16 Oz, I used light)
Light Brown sugar Or powdered jaggery - 1 1/2 cups (See Notes)
Water - 1 cup (or per consistency desired)
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
Dry ginger powder - 1/4 tsp

Method:
In a saucepan, heat pumpkin puree,  brown sugar and water. When all the sugar has dissolved and it comes to a rolling boil, add the coconut milk and mix well. When it comes to a full boil, add cardamom powder, ginger powder and mix well. Turn off the heat and serve warm or cold.
Source recipe uses roasted cashews and suggests to fry coconut pieces in ghee and add. I didn't do any of those since I wanted it more like a drinking consistency and not like a pudding.

Notes:
I used 1 1/2 cups of brown sugar and felt it is very sweet. It could be because of low fat coconut milk or canned pumpkin. But next time, I will use only 1 cup and add more if needed.

Enjoy.

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Akkaravadisal / Akkara Adisil (Rice & Lentil Pudding)

I was born and raised in the state of Karnataka. But, we speak 'Tamil' at home. I can read, write, speak Kannada, but can't read or write Tamil. Tradition that we follow are more of a Tamil style than Kannada style. I call myself Karnataka Born Confused Tamilian (after the famous 'ABCD'). Our food obviously has the effect of both the states. This dessert is one of the Tamilian dishes that my mother had to learn from a relative who was a first generation Tamilian in Karnataka. We are 7th generation. Just imagine how bad my Tamil should be. 
I made this for the celebration of 'Vijaya Dasami'. This is traditionally made during the month of January or the month of 'Marghazhi' as called in Tamil. This is also served as prasadam in temples during that month. It was easy and quick for me to make it before going to work, so I made it.

One year back - Iyengar bakery Khara Bread, 15 minute Vegetable broth
Ingredients:
Rice - 1/2 cup
Moong dal (dehusked split mung beans) - 2 TBSP
Milk - 5 cups divided use
Jaggery - 1 cup powdered and measured
Cardamom - 5 powdered
Edible camphor - a pinch
Ghee / Clarified butter - 1/4 cup or more divided use
Saffron - few strands
Cashews - 1/4 cup
Raisins - 1/4 cup

Method:
Wash and rinse rice and dal together. Drain very well. Heat 2 tsp ghee in a saucepan. When hot, add the drained rice and dal mixture and toast till nice aroma comes. It will stick in the beginning. Keep stirring and when they get dry, it starts moving in the pan easily without sticking. When the rice is toasted and nice smell starts to come, turn off the heat. Take this in a pot that can fit in a pressure cooker. You could cook this on stove top, but will take a long time and requires constant monitoring. Add 3 cups of milk to the rice and dal mixture and pressure cooker till 4 - 5 whistles. You basically need them to be cooked till mushy.
In about 2 TBSP of  milk, dissolve saffron and set aside. When the pressure has released, prepare the syrup. Take jaggery in a saucepan and add about 1/2 cup of water to it. Heat stirring till jaggery dissolves. When it starts boiling with a nice froth, take the cooked rice and dal mixture and mash it with a potato masher. It will already be a mush, so it won't need a lot of mashing. Add it to the boiling jaggery and mix well. Add the remaining milk and stir. Let it come to a nice boil and keep stirring frequently. Add the saffron dissolved milk, cardamom and edible camphor. In a separate pan, heat the remaining ghee. Toast cashews and when they are golden, add raisins to the same pan and toast them. Add them to the pot and stir. Turn off the heat and serve warm or at room temperature or cold.

Notes:
Depending on the type of rice used, it might absorb all of the milk. If it gets too thick, add some more milk and gently warm it up. It is almost a semi solid, thick and creamy pudding.

Enjoy.

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Kheer / Indian Rice Pudding

There are some dishes that take a long time to make. But, they are well worth it. This Indian dessert is one such dish.  If you make it the way it is suppose to be made and eat, I can promise you that you will never ever say rice pudding is good in a restaurant. What they serve in Indian restaurants (most of which I have visited) is almost crap compared to home made kheer.

Method and proportions of making this rice pudding might vary a bit from one state to another in India, but most of them have rice toasted in ghee, cooked in milk and boiled till it gets thick, sweetened with sugar and garnished with nuts and raisins. I had a bunch of people at my place and that is why I made this much of kheer. If I want to generalize a formula, it is 1 part rice to 16 parts milk to 2 parts sugar. Ghee amount can be just enough for toasting the nuts and rice or more. I usually use 1/3 part ghee.

One year back - Cardamom Granola
Ingredients:
Basmati Rice - 1 cup
Milk - 12 cups
Heavy cream or half and half - 3 - 4 cups (I used 3 cups) (See Notes)
Sugar - 2 cups (You can alter this based on your taste)
Ghee - 1/3 - 1/2 cup divided use
Cardamom - 6 - 8 pods powdered
Saffron - few strands
Cashews - broken 1/2 cup
Raisins - 1/2 cup

Method:
Rinse rice in enough water. Drain. In a large pan preferably a non stick pan, heat 2 TBSP of ghee. Add the very well drained rice and toast for few minutes until lightly golden and nice aroma comes. Add all the milk and keep stirring it. Make sure you break the skin it forms often to prevent milk from flowing out of the pot. Stir often to prevent burning. Let the rice cook completely. Now add the heavy cream or half and half. Stir and let it keep boiling till it gets thick. Add saffron strands. If it looks like too much liquid, don't worry. Everything will be absorbed and the end product will be a nice creamy pudding. This will take at least an hour or more to get to that consistency. Add sugar and bring it to a boil again. Add cardamom powder. In another small pan, heat remaining ghee. When hot, add cashews. When cashews are golden, add raisins and let them plump up. Add the entire mixture to the main pot with milk and rice and mix well. Serve warm or cold.

Notes:
For 1 cup rice, you need exactly 1 gallon of milk. Preferably whole milk. I was using 2 % milk and that is the reason for using 3 cups half and half and since it is thicker than milk, I used less.

Linking this to #ricelove held at Junia's place.

Enjoy.

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Gasagase Payasa / Poppy seeds drink

I learned how to cook like most of other women in India. By watching their moms, grand mothers and aunts. I learned by watching my mother. She never measured anything in day to day cooking. Needless to say, I did the same and still do. When I blog about some of these dishes, I have to literally measure and keep a note of it. This is not only good but is immensely helpful in some situations.

Why am I telling you all these? I have to tell you something to make you understand the reason. Two years back, we all went to my brother-in-law's place for a ceremony. Since I was the 'main cook' and to make my life easier, I had done some prep work before I went. You see, I am not very comfortable in some one's kitchen that too when I was cooking for 45 people. I had made the mix for this dish. All I had to do was boil it with water, coconut milk and add sugar. When I finished making it, since I had not measured anything, I tasted it and added more sugar to adjust the taste. Someone, who was watching me like a 'hawk' (let's see if anyone can guess who it was) told me that it needs to be boiled again since I added sugar. I just said I would and never did it since I knew that it was not needed for the sugar to dissolve since the whole mixture was still very hot. I wish I had posted this before that. I could've made it without tasting for sugar.

One year back -  Craisins and White chocolate Biscotti, Coconut Jaggery Rice, Kara Sev
Ingredients:
Rice - 1 TBSP
Poppy seeds/Gasagase/Khuskhus - 1/2 cup
Coconut - Grated about 2 cups (Or use 1 can of coconut milk)
Cashews or blanched almonds - 1/4 cup (optional I use it to thicken the drink. You will need less liquid and sugar if you omit this - See Notes)
Cardamom - 6 - 7
Nutmeg - a pinch
Sugar - 1 1/2  - 2 cups depending on how sweet you like the drink (I used 1 1/2 cups)
Milk - 1 1/2 cups (See Notes)
Water - 6 cups

Method:
Rinse and soak rice. Add poppy seeds to it and let it soak for an hour at least. Some people roast the poppy seeds but it gives a smoky flavor. I prefer to keep it raw. Grind the rice and poppy seeds with cardamom, nutmeg, coconut, cashews or blanched almonds (if using). Poppy seeds are stubborn. They won't grind so easily. Use the water already measured little by little and grind till smooth. Transfer the ground paste to a big pot. Dilute the paste with remaining water. Turn on the heat and let it come to a full boil stirring occasionally. The foam will look curdled, but don't worry about it. When it is boiling all over, add sugar, milk and mix well. Let it come to a full boil again. Adjust sugar if needed and turn off the heat. Serve warm, cold or even hot on a winter night.

Notes:
Reduce the water by 1 - 1 1/2 cups if omitting nuts. If you omitted coconut and used coconut milk, reduce the water by the same quantity. Some people add more milk and less water, but since coconut and nuts are quite rich, I tend to reduce the milk. Go with what you like the best.

Enjoy.


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Beetroot Coconut Halwa

I make carrot halwa and beetroot halwa. I had some beets in the refrigerator and I was expecting company. I decided to make beetroot halwa and when I looked in the refrigerator, I had only 3 medium sized ones. I could've paired them with some carrots to get enough and make 'carrot-beet halwa', but I wanted to try something different and added flaked coconut to get more of the end product. I should say this was delicious and I might add this to one of my favorite sweets. (That list is never ending just so you know)

One Year Back - Tomato Focaccia, Almond Mousse
Ingredients:
Beets grated - 2 1/2 cups (peel the beets and grate with fine grater)
Sweetened/Unsweetened Shredded Coconut flakes - 2 1/2 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups (This was perfect. You can increase the sugar if you like to 1 3/4 cups)
Milk - 1 1/4 cups (I used 2 %)
Cardamom - 6 pods powdered
Ghee - 4 - 5 TBSP (You can add more if you don't mind extra calories)
Cashews - 3 TBSP
Raisins - 3 TBSP

Method:
In a saucepan, take the grated beets. Add milk to it and start heating on medium heat. Make sure the pan is big enough so that when the milk boils, it doesn't over flow. Keep stirring occasionally. When almost all the liquid is gone (remember that beets leave out a lot of juice), add the coconut gratings, sugar. Mix well. When you add sugar, it will melt and make the whole mixture a liquid. Lower the heat. Keep stirring occasionally to prevent burning and let all the moisture evaporate.

In another small pan, heat ghee. When hot, add cashews and fry till golden. Add raisins and when raisins have plumped up, add it to the halwa and mix well. Add cardamom powder and mix one more time. Turn off the heat. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature.

Vegan Version:
Use coconut milk in the place of milk. Use either canola oil or coconut oil in place of ghee.

Have a great weekend everyone. Pin It

Kaju Burfi / Cashews fudge

Don't know what it is with me and the cook books. I have so many but still when I see a good cook book, I want to flip through the pages. I was at my friend's place when I saw the book 'the food of INDIA' by Murdock Books. I immediately asked if I could borrow it and she agreed. I flipped through the pages and there weren't too many dishes that I needed the recipe for in it. There was this Kaju burfi which, even when I knew how to make for some reason never made. This recipe caught my attention for one reason only. Most of the Indian sweets have good amount of ghee in it. This one doesn't. Also, quantity of sugar is pretty less and the goodness of the nuts make it almost irresistible. This probably is the same as Kaju Katli which, I haven't made yet.

There was the use of decorative silver sheets which, I neither have nor would want to use. I omitted cloves from the recipe and used just the cardamom.

One year back -  Cranberry Soup/Curry
Ingredients:
Cashews - 3 1/3 cups (I used broken cashews and measured)
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Dry milk powder - 2 cups (I used non fat)
Water - 1 cup
Saffron - few strands (optional)
Cardamom - 4 powdered
Ghee / Clarified butter - 2 TBSP (You could easily use canola oil)

Method:
In a skillet, toast the cashews. Don't let them get dark. You want them to have a light toast. Set aside to cool. When cool, powder them in a food processor or a mixie/blender. If it starts clumping, you can add a bit of dry milk powder that is part of the recipe to avoid. Transfer it into a bowl. Stir in the remaining milk powder to the cashew powder. Mix the canola oil or ghee to this along with cardamom powder.
In a pan, heat sugar with 1 cup of water. Stir occasionally to dissolve all the sugar. Once it starts simmering, lower the heat to medium and set the timer for 5 minutes. You could add the saffron strands if using to the sugar syrup or use it on the top of the burfi at a later stage.

Meanwhile either grease a plate with some ghee or line a baking pan with wax paper. This mixture fits a 11 X 8" pan. When the 5 minutes have passed since the syrup started simmering, turn off the heat and pour it on to the bowl which has milk powder and cashew mixture. Mix quickly and dump it on to the prepared pan. Press either with a spatula or take another piece of wax paper and place on the top of the mixture and press with your hands to push to the entire pan and to even out the layer. Remove the top wax paper.  If you want to use saffron strands as decoration on the top of the burfi, press them now to the burfi. Let it cool completely before cutting into pieces. Store in air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a month.

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Vegan Grits Pudding (Grits Payasam)

This story is from 11 years ago. My in-laws were visiting us for 3 plus months. I was in grad school then. To kill time, they would rent Ramayan and Mahabharath dvds and watch them. They had already watched all of them on TV in India. This was not the first time they were watching it. One day, I came home from school and my mother in law told me to make some sweet. Why? Because they saw Seetha's wedding. I was shocked and didn't know what to say. I was newly married at that time and had no clue how to react, so just made something. If someone says the same today, scene would be different. It is always good to have some quick dishes to whip up for situations like that. This one falls in that category.

There are some things that cannot be made to look pretty. At least, I don't have the education or talent to do so. This is one such food that I did not understand how to take a picture of. But, since this is an easy dessert that can be made in a jiffy (read unexpected guests for dinner or the situation like above), I am posting it anyway. This is the same as rava or broken wheat pudding but uses grits which do not need any dry roasting. I made this vegan just because I had to use up the oats and cashews milk that I had made the other day.

One year back -  Cookies roundup
Ingredients:
Quick cooking grits - 1/2 cup (not instant)
Water - 1 - 2 cups (See Notes)
Vegan milk - 4 cups (I used homemade oats and Cashews milk) - See Notes
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom - 5 pods crushed into powder
Cashes - 3 TBSP
Raisins - 3 TBSP
Saffron - few strands (optional)

Method:
In a pan, heat the vegan milk of your choice or plain milk if not for a vegan version. When hot, add grits and start stirring so that it doesn't stick to the pan and burn. When the grits had cooked completely, add the water depending on how thick it has become. I added 1 cup since I wanted it to be a thick pudding. Add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron strands if using. Add the raisins and stir. Lower the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. Meanwhile, in a skillet, dry roast the cashews. Add them to the pudding and mix well. Turn off the heat and serve warm or room temperature or cold.

Notes:
Since I used the Oats and Cashews milk, I had to add a lot more liquid. That is because of the oats in the milk which made it a very thick one. If using regular milk or soy milk, you might not need any extra water at all. Just 4 cups is plenty and might even make it a bit thinner. If making with regular milk, you can toast the cashews and raisins in about 2 TBSP of ghee and add.

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Vattayappam / Vatteppam (Steamed Sweet Rice cakes)

I am a different kind of cook. I feel like that. What do you think?
I can  make a simple recipe complicated and make a complicated recipe sound simple. Not true except in this case. I haven't been taking part in the monthly ICC for some time now. Reason being forgetting to do it on time. When Srivalli, who by the way organizes this asked me about this cake, I realized I had less than 2 days to make it so that I could post on 15th of this month. Original recipe narrated by Srivalli can be found here. I however deviated from the recipe by couple of miles I should say. Firstly, I didn't soak and grind the rice. Secondly, I came up with a very easy step to do it without complicating the process and without compromising the taste. You see, I love yeast and to a certain extent, I can say I do understand yeast. And having baked many bread recipes made me pull this off.

One Year Back - Sago Murukku
Ingredients:
Rice flour - 1 1/2 cups (approximately. By weight 7.2 Oz)
Sugar - 1/2 cup + 1 TBSP
Coconut milk - 1/2 cup (from the can)
Water - 2 cups or more divided use (See Notes)
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Instant yeast - 1/2 tsp
Cardamom - 5 - 6 pods crushed into powder
Sweetened or Unsweetened Shredded coconut - 3 - 4 TBSP (See Notes)

Method:
Measure rice flour in a large bowl. Take 2 TBSP of this flour and make a thin paste / roux with 1 cup of water. Take it in a sauce pan and heat it stirring constantly until it becomes gelatinous and starts leaving the sides of the pan. Turn off the heat. To this mixture, add 1/2 cup of coconut milk and stir. Check to see if it is luke warm temperature. To the rice flour bowl, add salt, 1 TBSP of sugar, yeast. Pour the cooked rice flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon to combine. Slowly start adding warm water about 1/4 cup at a time to make a thick idli consistency or pancake consistency batter. Set aside in a warm place to ferment about 4 - 6 hours.

Towards the end of fermentation time, you should be able to smell the yeast and when you stir the batter down, you should see lot of holes in the batter. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of sugar, cardamom powder and stir.
Toast the coconut flakes in a dry skillet until golden and fragrant. Set aside. This batter is enough to make an 8" round cake. But I wanted to try two ways one way by steaming in the pressure cooker and the other by baking in the oven. I divided them between ramekins and steamed 3 ramekins and baked in 2 square ramekins. Pour the batter into greased (I used vegetable oil spray) pan and sprinkle the toasted coconut on the top.

To steam cook:
Place the pan in the pressure cooker and steam it without using the weight for 20 - 30 minutes. You can turn off the heat, open the lid when it is safe to do so and check for the doneness of the cake by inserting a toothpick. If still not done, close the pressure cooker lid and continue to steam for another 5 minutes or so.

To bake:
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the pan in the oven and bake until done. Since I used the square shaped ramekins, it took about 30 - 35 minutes. Since this has absolutely no fat and rice flour doesn't have gluten, it started getting small cracks on the top. That is when I tented them with aluminum foil and baked till they were done. Kind of similar to boston brown bread method I should say. Check with the toothpick and bake further if needed.
Once cool, run a knife and remove from the mould.

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Ricotta Coconut Fudge (Burfi)

Happy Valentine's day everyone.
I do not really know the history of chocolate and Valentine's day. But, I do know that you make something to feel your loved one feel good. It need not be just chocolate. So, I made these not too sweet Ricotta Coconut fudge or burfi. Instead of using milk powder with ricotta the way we make ricotta peda, I used fine ground coconut powder and the result is an awesome not too sweet but very soft fudge.

One Year back - Homemade Almond Butter
Ingredients:
Ricotta cheese - 2 cups (I used part skim)
Sugar - 1 cup
Unsweetened dry dessicated coconut fine ground - 2 cups (If you can't get this, run the regular one in the blender/food processor to get powder and then measure)
Ghee or butter - 2 TBSP
Cardamom powder or vanilla - 1/2 tsp (optional)

Method:
Grease a plate with ghee. I lined a 8" cake pan with parchment paper. Set aside. Take a thick bottomed vessel. Add butter or ghee and turn on the heat. Once the butter or ghee has melted, add ricotta cheese. Keep stirring on medium flame till it starts bubbling and spitting the water out. Add the sugar and immediately add the coconut powder. Stir. They all come together in 3 - 5 minutes. When there is almost no liquid left and it makes a huge mass, add the flavoring if using and stir for the final time. Pour it on to the grease plate or the parchment paper lined pan. The mixture won't fall like that of fudge. Take a wax paper and cover the entire surface with it. Flatten by pressing on the top of the wax paper. Let it set and cool. When completely cool, cut into desired shape and size. I made them very small just like the size of fudge. You could also make them into balls when cool enough to handle. Garnish with some chopped nuts if desired. My kids won't even touch it if I used any nuts in them. That was the reason for not using any. Store in the refrigerator up to 1 week if it lasts that long.

Check out what other ladies are up to..
Srivalli, Azeema, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ,  Priya Suresh,Priya Mahadevan,  Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

Enjoy. Pin It

Carrot Almond Kheer / Pudding

I am very fond of Carrot Halwa. I used to make that a lot as dessert for company. I once saw a recipe for Carrot payasam in some Indian Cook book (don't remember which one). I started making that because it is quicker than Halwa. Once I added some left over blanched almonds and that is how I make this dessert now. The nuttiness of almonds give it a nice aroma and thickens the kheer very easily. You can skip using condensed milk and use milk and sugar instead. That will yield a thinner version of this, which can be served in tall glasses similar to milk shake or smoothie.

One year back - Vegan Banana Brownies
Ingredients:
Carrot - 6 medium peeled and cut into 1" chunks
Almonds - 1/2 cup (I used whole, but if you don't like the skin, blanch, remove skin and then use it)
Water - 2 - 2 1/2 cups (You can use milk instead)
Condensed milk - 1 can
Cardamom - 5 pods crushed
Slice almonds - few for garnish (optional)

Method:
In a saucepan, take the chopped carrots, almonds (whole or blanched). Pour enough water to cover the whole carrots. I used about 1 1/2 cups. Boil it till carrots are fork tender. If the water has evaporated, add some more. Turn off the heat and let cool a bit. Take entire saucepan contents in a blender/mixie. Add crushed cardamom pods to the blender and make a puree. You can use some water or milk to aid the machine. When pureed, pour it back into the saucepan. Add condensed milk and keep on very low flame and keep stirring frequently. When it comes to a simmer, turn it off. Garnish with some sliced almonds if desired. Serve hot or cold.

Notes:
This one is a bit on the sweet side. You can thin it down a bit by adding about a cup of milk which in turn reduces the sugar concentration. By the time I got to eat it, the entire pot was almost gone so I didn't adjust anything. I used organic carrots which are very sweet to begin with. That could be the reason for this being a bit on the sweeter side. Other way of doing this without compromising on the thickness is by increasing the carrots to about 8 and adding 1/2 a cup of milk along with 1 can of sweetened condensed milk can. Don't alter the almond amount.

Check out what other ladies are cooking/baking and blogging..
Srivalli, Azeema, Bhagi,  Gayathri Anand, Gayathri Kumar, Harini, Jay, Kamalika, Meena, Mina, Padma, Pavani,  PJ,  Priya Suresh,Priya Mahadevan,  Rujuta, Santosh, Saraswathi, Savitha, Shanavi, Smitha, Sowmya, Suma, Usha, Veena.

Enjoy. Pin It