Tag Archives: Indian dessert

Lauki ki burfi : Bottle gourd fudge for Diwali

Image

Reply

IMG_3292

Wish you all a very happy, healthy and peaceful Diwali.

IMG_3293

This has been such a difficult year for everyone. It will be a very low key affair.

I leave you with this very easy recipe.

IMG_3296

Recipe; 25 bite size piece

Ingredients,

Freshly grated and squeezed bottle gourd                     1 cup

Mawa ( Milk Solids )                                                      1 cup

Ground nuts ( cashew, pistachio, almonds)                    1 cup

Ghee                                                                            3 tbsp

Condensed milk                                                            3/4 cup ( to taste )

Cardamom powder                                                       1 tsp

Green food colour ( optional )                                        4-5 drops

Silver leaf and rose petals                                              To garnish

Method;

Take freshly grated bottle gourd ,Lauki, Squeeze all the water out.

Grind cashew, pistachio and almonds to get a one cup full of the powder.

Mawa is available in Indian grocery store, grate it , if unavailable miik powder can be substituted.

Take a non stick pan on medium heat, add 2 tbsp of ghee. Once it melts, add the lauki, crank the heat down to medium low, Add the Mawa, stir so that it does not stick to the bottom of the pan. Cover and cook for 3-4 minutes. The lauki gets cooked. Throw in the nut powder, condensed milk, cardamom powder and food colour. Mix them all together. Add the last Tbsp of ghee, keep stirring. The moisture evaporates and the mixture leaves the side of the pan and slowly comes together, about 25 minutes. Switch the gas off.

Take a greased plate. Transfer the mixture. Pat the surface smooth and leave it to set for two hours. Transfer the silver leaf if using on top. Cut in pieces, and garnish with rose petals or more nuts.

Enjoy!

Bhapa shondesh ( Steamed milk fudge ) for Remembrance day

Image

Reply

IMG_2850

The poppy is associated with Remembrance day. Poppies were the flowers that grew in the battlefields after the World War was over, hence poppies became a symbol to remember those who have lost loved ones because of wars.There is no poppy here, but the deep red colour of the Virginia creeper leaves, is definitely the closest I have with me today to mark the very symbolic day.

The agreement that ended the World War 1, was signed at the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Canadians pause to to honour and remember the men and women who served and continue to serve Canada during times of war, conflict and peace.

“Lest we forget” is a term synonymous to “We will remember them”. Written much before the World War this poem by Rudyard Kipling reminds us to put our trust in God. I leave you with a few lines from this beautiful poem.

“The tumult and the shouting dies;

The Captains and the Kings depart:

Still stands Thine ancient sacrifice,

An humble and a contrite heart.

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget – lest we forget….”

Shondesh is a very popular sweet back home, a must in any important event. This is a cheat’s recipe, comes together in no time. Give it a try friends.

Recipe:

Ingredients

Ricotta cheese                     2 cups

Icing sugar                           1/3 cup

Saffron strands                     15-20

Cardamom powder                1 tsp

Method

Strain the cheese to get rid of excess water. Mix the sugar and blend till smooth. I used a hand blender.

Grease a pyrex rectangular pot . Transfer this mixture. Put some saffron strands on top. Cover and steam for 30 minutes on medium heat.

Allow to cool. Put in in fridge for 30 minutes. cut in pieces. Enjoy!

Beet and Milk peda

Image

Reply

IMG_3035

The snow has been coming down all day, is it here to stay or will it melt is the conversations we are having around here. The ground  is covered with a blanket of snow, the deciduous trees standing with bare branches, almost like the witches broom! Together they make a black and white theme of the landscape.

IMG_3040

My mind wanders off to a very far off land, a little town in India, many many years back, where I grew up. These were special days , the feminine form of the divine celebrated over a period of nine days. Today being Saptami, or the seventh night of Durga pooja. Donning new clothings and visiting the  venue ( Pandal ) to be with our friends, offering flowers,  (Anjali ), to goddess Durga, enjoying the feast thereafter, and no school works left us kids in a tizzy. What more could a kid ask for?

Sweets are an integral part of the offering made to the goddess, which becomes blessed, ( Prasad ), and then distributed between the devotees.

I have added some beet puree here to make these lovely pedas, gaining some great colour and also decreasing the amount of refined sugar in the recipe, making it a healthier version of the traditional dessert.

Give it a try friends, I bet it will be among your favourites desserts.

Recipe ;  Made about 20 pieces depending on size.

Ingredients;

Milk powder                                        2 cups

Unsalted butter                                   1 stick

Condensed milk                                  3/4 tin ( or full if you prefer sweeter )

Beet puree                                         1/2 cup

Red colour                                         2 drops ( optional )

Cardamom powder                            1 tsp

Method;

Take two medium sized beets, boil, skin and make a puree. Strain the puree through a strainer. Keep aside. Make sure the butter is at room temperature and cut it in small pieces.

In a microwavable bowl add the milk powder, butter pieces, condensed milk , beet puree and food colour if using. Mix everything thoroughly. Microwave the bowl for 5 minutes, taking the bowl out and giving it a good stir after every minute. Add the cardamom powder during the last minute. Carefully try to form a small ball to see if it binds well. If not make need a minute or two more.

Let the bowl sit on the counter for couple minutes. Grease a tablespoon. Take a spoonful of this mixture and if safe to handle,  form a round ball. Press the ball to form a disc. Peda is ready. You can get creative by using the back of a glass  or put it in a mold to get a design imprinted.

Enjoy!

 

 

Kaddu ka meetha: Sweet Pumpkin balls

Image

Reply

IMG_2976 Laddus  ( sweet balls )are a very common dessert back home. the permutations and combinations of the ingredients are many. Almost anything can be made into Laddus.

I am a little unfamiliar with sweet pumpkin recipes. With the festival season round the corner,, it is raining pumpkins everywhere in the Instagram and in stores, i decided to give this “Laddu” a try.

IMG_2962

Pumpkin spice latte is something I look forward to every fall. When I was contemplating a sweet recipe with pumpkin, I knew I was not using cardamom  powder or vanilla essence for flavouring. I wanted the pumpkin spice flavour in the sweets.

Give it a try friends. It was ready soon, tasted great and gluten free.

Here is the recipe….

 

IMG_2966 (1)Recipe: made 21 pieces.

Ingredients;

Chickpea flour (Besan)                                1 cup

Grated pumpkin                                          11/2 cup

Desiccated coconut                                    1/2 cup

Sugar                                                         1 cup

Milk                                                            1 cup

Ghee                                                          2 Tbsps

Melon seeds                                              1/3 cup

Nutmeg powder                                         1 tsp

Mace powder                                            1/2 tsp

Clove powder                                            1/2 tsp

Ginger powder                                           1/2 tsp

Pistachio slivers                                         1 tbsp

Method ;

Dry roast the melon seeds till they pop, a few minutes, and collect on a bowl.

Strain the Besan, and dry roast it on low heat till there is a nutty aroma, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Dry roast the grated pumpkin so it cooks slightly, looses water, about 7-8 minutes.

Now add the besan, desiccated coconut, milk, sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring often to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. The mixture will start to thicken, add the ghee. Mix thoroughly . Put the gas off when a dough forms.. Add the melon seeds, nutmeg, mace, clove and ginger powder. Mix once again.

Wait till the mixture cools down such that one can handle. Take a tablespoon of this mixture and form into balls. Garnish with the pistachio slivers.

Share it with your friends and family.

Mishti Doi: Sweet yoghurt

Image

2

DSC_2142Don’t you just  love festivals? Back home , there are no dearth of festivals. This means food and frolic. ‘Shravan” is a very important month in Hindu calender. After the extreme heat comes the monsoons. It is welcomed by all. The poets and artists have all sung praises of monsoon. The  parched earth turns green again. The petrichor is nostalgic.

This is the time we celebrate a few festivals, one of which is a celebration of womanhood. The “Teej”. Similarities are drawn between mother earth and womanhood. Sweets are a must. Although the “Mishti Doi” is not a must have during Teej, but in keeping with my Bengali roots, I thought of having this dessert for Teej.

Unlike back home, where every street corner has a couple sweet shops, we in this little prairie town are not privy to that comfort.

DSC_2132

This lack of availability though has got the creative juices going, and expatriates have come up  with a variety of ways of baking this delicacy at home.

This is how I do it. It works like a charm.

Give it a try, you will not be disappointed friends.

Recipe; Serves six.

Ingredients;

Sweetened condensed milk.          1 tin

Buttermilk                                       twice the above amount.

Chopped pistachios                      To garnish

Method;

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees F.

In a oven proof bowl mix the condensed milk and buttermilk well. This is an important step, if not mixed well, the taste will not be evenly sweet.

Bake for one hour. Take the bowl out and let it cool. Garnish with chopped pistachios. Let it sit in the fridge overnight. Enjoy it next day, Thank me later.

Dudh peda aka Milk fudge with Lavender flavour

Image

Reply

IMG_2048

I am not sure about you, but I feel I am always short of time. Trust me, I work hard and am quite comfortable at multitasking. Age changes , did I hear? Ahem, let us talk about something else, shall we?

Well the bottom line is I always look for recipes that cut corners in preparation without compromising the taste. This milk Peda is my favourite. If you only have three ingredients and 5 minutes time in hand, you can whip up these beauties. Have you heard the saying, ” neighbour’s envy, owners pride?”

IMG_2052

Try for yourself and thank me later.

Recipe  makes 26-28, depending on the size.

Ingredients;

Milk powder                                           2 cups

Unsalted butter                                       1 stick

Condensed milk ( sweetened )                 1 tin

Cardamom powder                                   1/4 tsp. ( optional )

Dried Lavender                                          1/4 tsp. ( optional )

Method,

Leave the butter on the counter , so that you have it at room temperature.

In a microwave safe bowl, mix the above ingredients very nicely.

Run it in the microwave for one minute. Take it out and give it a nice stir.

Repeat this four more times, so that the total time in microwave is five minutes.

Take it out. As soon as you can handle it , spoon out 1 Tbsp mixtures. Make it into balls. If you have some molds, you can imprint on it. I have used the dried lavender on the centre only, to decorate,

There you have it.

The easiest recipe ever. Enjoy.

 

Ricotta cheese shondesh golap jol diye: Rose flavoured ricotta cheese shondesh

Image

1

IMG_1121

Did we ever think that we would be in the midst of these unsettling times? Honestly who would ever have thought that the world would come to this? Travel ban, social distancing, restaurants closed, emergency services only! Well to top it all up I lost four years worth of my  food blog posts, my creations, part of me is gone. Gone forever. I definitely take the blame for it, if trusting someone one hundred percent is wrong.

IMG_1071     .

S T R E S S E D. To say the least. Try reversing the  word “Stressed”. See what we got? Desserts. Isn’t that a sign? I am taking this seriously and drowning myself in dessert making. Indian sweets in particular, where my weakness lies.

IMG_1075

Here is another variation of the “Shondesh” or cheese fudge from my last post. Very similar except uses sugar instead of jaggery. I have added a delicate flavour too. Rose water. Delicate is the key word here. Adding more than needed ruins the flavour though.

Recipe; made 26 pcs using 1 Tbsp measure each

Ingredients;

Ricotta cheese                             2 cup

Ghee                                          4 Tbsps

Sugar                                         1 cup

Milk powder                                1 cup

Rose water                                  1/2 tsp

Rose petals                                  1 tbsp

Pistachio slivers                           1 tbsp

Method;

Take the ghee in a flat bottomed non stick pan on low medium flame. Wait for it to melt then add the cheese, give it a nice mix. Add the sugar, milk powder and keep stirring making sure it does not catch the bottom of the pan, until the water evaporates and the mixture comes together, leaving the side of the pan, about 45 minutes. Add the rose syrup. Put the gas off.

Collect the mixture on a plate. Wait for it to cool a bit, such that it can be handled. Divide into about 18 pieces, about a table spoon measure for a portion. Grease both the palms, press the portion into a flat shondesh or if you have wooden molds, press the portion into a greased mold that has been sprinkled with rose petals and pistachio slivers. Gently remove them from the mold.

Stay calm and eat Shondesh!