Indian sweet – Page 4

Akki Rotti Payasa /Rice flat bread kheer:

December 6, 2017

Happiness is when one of your readers messages you regarding this recipe, which he used to relish in his childhood and attempted a couple of times without any success. He wanted to know the exact recipe for the same, with proper measurements. When he explained about this payasam, I was clueless and thought it must be his grand mom’s own creation to fulfil the needs of her big family by making it easier. He patiently explained the process about how his grand mom used to prepare it and What amazed me was, as a small child, he has seen and observed how his grand mom does etc. After listening to his explanation, it was like a dream to me. I couldn’t resist, and wanted to try it out As soon as possible. The next day was my wedding anniversary and I grabbed the opportunity and started my experiment. It indeed was a treat and I was super duper happy with the result. Here is the recipe and I am dedicating it to that great soul from whom this recipe came to light and my reader who has shared his childhood nostalgic memories with me by explaining it patiently.

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Now we will see how I proceeded with the recipe-

Ingredients:

Dosa rice – 1 small cup

Salt

Jaggery – 4 small cubes

One fresh coconut – to extract milk

Cardamom powder – 1 tea spoon.

Banana leaves – 2 pieces

Ghee – 1 tea spoon

Cashew pieces – 2 table spoons

Method:

-Wash and soak Dosa rice for 2 hours.

-Grind the rice into smooth paste with sufficient water (use soaked water itself) and salt.

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-Batter should be of spreadable consistency (little thinner than regular Dosa batter)

-Next is a coconut milk extraction:

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-Take fresh gratings, put one cup of water and grind into smooth paste and extract milk through sieve. This milk is a thick milk and is used at the end. Hence, it should be kept aside separately.

-Now once again take roughage of the coconut, put one more cup of water and grind, sieve the paste and it is our second extraction of milk.

-Repeat the process and take out a third extraction as well and if you are using the roughage of the coconut in any other purpose, you can store it in a freezer for future use.

– Take one wide thick bottomed vessel, Pour diluted, very thin milk (3 rd. extraction) and jaggery. Boil nicely.

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-Now pour second extraction of milk (thin milk) and boil further.

-Now start preparing Rotti, take one clean banana leaf, spread a ladle of rice batter and spread as thin as possible and flip this leaf over boiling jaggery solution.

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-Within 2 minutes, it will be ready to remove. Now start pulling your banana leaf by peeling it slowly.

-After peeling, if at all some cooked Rotti part remains, take one flat ladle and remove and put it in the boiling jaggery solution.

-Repeat the procedure, until batter finishes. I did it 4 times.

-Now boil this further for 3 to 4 minutes and mix it in-between by using very light hand.

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-It is the time to use thick first extract of the coconut milk.

-When it starts boiling, remove from the flame. Add cardamom powder and ghee fried cashews and serve hot.

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Note:

We liked this dessert as a Hot option.
When it cools down, at room temperature it tastes good.
Under refrigeration, if Rotti pieces becomes slightly hard, one can relish after re heating.

Antinunde /Dry fruit laddu with edible gum:

November 29, 2017

Antinunde aka dry fruits laddu with edible gum is a super food for everyone, especially new moms or girls in their puberty, especially after their first cycle of menstruation. I came to know about this super food through my close friend’s mom, Chandu aunty.

According to her, if you are using it for a girl, after her first cycle. Traditionally it is a practice that, 5^th day onwards girl should consume a little amount of ghee, small piece of copra (which is dried coconut) followed by one dry fruit laddu and a cup of milk for continuous 48 days. It is believed that, all the combined nutrition of dry fruits, edible gum and milk will take care of her and retain the calcium, iron and much needed supplements through the natural form.

If you are using after delivery, for a new mom as a postpartum supplement, method will be slightly different and here we should take care of the new born baby’s health as well. In this case, lady should consume, 1 spoon of postpartum lehya (which is a mixture of so many ayurvedic natural medicines) followed with little ghee, piece of dry coconut, one laddu and a glass of milk from 11^th day onwards until 3^rd month. Initial 1 ½ months content of the sesame should be more (for example 1 cup) other than this one should use ½ tsp of ajwain as well and after 2^nd half one should decrease the quantity of sesame to half and quantity of the dried dates and edible gum should be more to pass on the supplements to the baby as well.

Other than these two instances, one can enjoy these delicious laddu at any given point of time with a whole lot of goodness. I will show you how I prepare this for a regular use –

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Ingredients:

Dates – 300 grams

Almonds – 100 grams

Cashew – 50 grams

Raisins – 50 grams

Fig – 50 grams (optional)

Melon seeds – 50 grams (optional)

Flax seeds – 25 grams (optional)

Desiccated coconut – 50 grams

Edible gum – 40 to 50 grams

Jaggery – 100 grams

Saffron – 10 strings

Nutmeg – 1 pinch (grated)

Cloves – 4

Ghee – 2 to 3 table spoons

Method:

-Chop dates and dry grind this in a small jar of the mixer grinder.

-Chop almonds and cashews

-Dry roast saffron then coconut powder for 3-4 minutes, till you get a nice aroma.

-Dry roast flax seed.

-Heat one teaspoon of ghee and fry one by one, cloves, almond, cashew, melon seed and raisins.

-Put one more teaspoon of ghee to same tawa, fry those edible gum crystals, until it pops up and becomes fluffy.

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-Make powder of this by using mixer jar and keep aside.

-Lastly, fry those chopped or churned dates and add all these items together in a bowl and keep aside.

-Now take jaggery in a small vessel and take ½ a cup of water, boil and sieve this to remove any impurities.

-Put this sieved liquid in a thick tawa, in which we have fried all those dry fruits.

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-Boil this until it reaches one thread consistency. Switch off the gas.

-Mix in all those fried items, nutmeg powder, saffron and mix nicely.

-Rub your hand with little ghee and start to make laddu’s.

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-Eat one laddu a day and enjoy.

Note:

Ratio of dry fruits and jaggery is 600 Grams:150 grams. If Fig is added, you can reduce a little.
I normally use normal dates, traditionally they use dried dates.
Instead of dry coconut (copra) I have used desiccated coconut.
One can use palm jaggery while making it for a new mom or use palm jaggery half and regular jaggery half.
My kids don’t like either poppy seeds or sesame seeds, instead I have added Melon seeds and flax seeds.
I normally add sugar candy crystals to enhance the crunchiness.

Besan Laddu:

October 20, 2017

Besan laddu is one of the most popular Indian sweets prepared during the time of Deepavali or Diwali festival. Besan laddu is pretty simple and contains three main ingredients- Gram flour/ Besan, ghee and sugar. These melt in a mouth laddu’s are my family’s favourite.

Ingredients:

Gram flour/ Besan – 3 cups

Sugar – 2 ¼ cups

Ghee – 1 cup

Dry fruits – 1 cup

Cardamom powder – 1 tea spoon

Method:

-Chop dry fruits. I normally use half cup of cashew bits and half cup of slivered Almond bits.

-Dry roast almond and cashew bits and keep aside.

-Powder sugar and keep aside.

-Take one thick bottomed wok, roast Besan in very low temperature.

-When it is a little hot, start adding ghee little by little during the roasting process.

-Don’t add or pour all the ghee at one go. It will not help to roast evenly and it will make muddy consistency, and will affect in even roasting.

– I took exactly 30 minutes over a very small flame.

-When it roasts and after adding all the ghee, mixture becomes very runny and colour will turn into reddish brown.

-At this time your house will filled with roasted flour’s aroma. This is the time you should switch off the gas and leave this mixture to cool completely.

-It will take anywhere between 30 to 40 minutes.

-Now add powdered sugar, cardamom powder and roasted dry fruits and mix everything properly.

-Now start using your hand and mix it once and start making small roundels by taking very little mixture at a time.

-At this time, you will feel that the laddus are a little wet and glossy and shining.

-Arrange these over a clean, dry platter. Because of the wetness, it tends to loosen its shape.

-After some time (one hour) laddu’s will be dry and glossy texture will vanish.

-I usually take these shapeless roundels and once again try to give shape and store it in an airtight container.

Kashi Halwa – Ash gourd Halwa:

October 17, 2017

Ash gourd halwa is very popular in Coastal belt of South Canara region. It has many names like Kushmanda halwa, Dumroot,Kumbalakai halwa or Kashi halwa. All names are one and the same. Basically, grated Ash gourd is cooked until its water evaporates, further cooked with sugar and some ghee and flavoured with cardamom. Which is a very laborious job, but once you taste it, you will never regret making it.

We will see how to prepare this tasty dessert –

Grated Ash gourd – 3 cups (tightly packed)

Sugar – 1 ½ cup

Ghee – ½ to ¾ cup

Salt – a pinch

Cardamom powder – 1 tea spoon

Roasted Cashew nut pieces – ½ cup (as needed)

Method:

-Wash Ash gourd, peel outer skin and remove inner core with seeded part. (Core part can be used to make Sweet Dosa or Plain Dosa batter)

-Grate ash gourd and collect gratings and water which is oozing out while grating.

-Put all this in a thick wok and keep it in a fire. Cook until water dries up.

-When water dries up, add salt, enough sugar, and cook. Once again you will see lots of liquid.

-Don’t worry, mix in-between and wait until it is dries up. Now it is time to start adding ghee at intervals.

– Now onwards it needs continuous stirring and in-between add 2 table spoons of ghee at a time.

-Keep on stirring until mixture leaves the sides and becomes like a mass.

– When it is done, you will notice three things. When you flip the mixture from the bottom, you will notice little whitish parts (like roasted), when you drop the mixture it will not stick to the spoon and drop like a mass and ghee oozing out at the edges.

-This is when it is perfectly done and time to add Roasted cashew nut pieces, cardamom powder mix thoroughly and switch off the gas .

Now leave this ready Halwa to cool or Serve Hot.

-When it attains a room temperature, store this in an air tight container.

Genasale/Steamed rice cake with coconut jaggery filling:

September 30, 2017

Genasale is coconut and jaggery filled steamed kadubu or steamed rice cake, usually folded and steam cooked in banana leaves. Banana leaf gives beautiful aroma and a good taste to this Genasale. Genasale is prepared using few basic ingredients but the end result is mouth watering, everyone’s favourite dish.

In my ancestral home, Navaratri/Dasara is celebrated by worshiping Goddess Durga. This Genasale is the main offering to the Goddess during night puja. I still vividly remember waiting for this Genasale prasadam to be served, while having a scrumptious traditional dinner. Now let us learn how to prepare this Genasale or kayi kadubu (kayi = coconut).

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Ingredients:

Dosa rice /white rice – 2 cups

Grated coconut – 1 cup

Grated Jaggery – ½ cup (to taste).

Ghee/ Clarified butter – 4 tsp.

Salt to taste

Banana leaves

Method:

-Wash Dosa rice and soak it for 2 to 3 hours.

– Grind soaked rice in to a fine paste with minimal water and salt.

–Batter should be a little thick but of spreadable consistency.

– Add 2 tea spoon of ghee and mix nicely, keep aside.

–Now prepare filling by mixing coconut, jaggery, and little ghee and mix everything nicely. keep it aside.

–Now take banana leaf, hold this on a gas flame (for wilting), then clean it with a wet cloth.

-Now take one spoon of rice batter, apply on banana leaf like a thin Dosa.

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– Take one spoon of jaggery mixture and Spread it over the thin Dosa and fold the banana leaf like a pocket.

– Steam cook for 30 min.

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– Serve this Genasale with dollop of Ghee and Enjoy.

Arrowroot Halwa:

September 26, 2017

Traditionally we call this Arrowroot halbayi. Which is easy to digest and considered as a very light food during fasting or illness. This should be consumed fresh and the shelf life of any halbayi is only 24 hours.

Arrowroot powder is extracted from the arrowroot plant, which is milky white in colour and powdery like corn starch. It has high nutritional content and is a very good substitute for bleached corn starch as a thickening agent in cooking. It is odourless and works well too.

Arrowroot powder’s “Easy to digest” quality is qualified to make infant food as well as to treat diarrhoea. It is usually consumed in a porridge form in our region. Usually, 1 tablespoon of powder is mixed with little water (according to the consistency) and cooked until it is shiny and glossy. Then with preferred seasonings like salt or jaggery.

Although it is a starch, it contains no gluten, so works well in gluten-free baking or cooking as well.

Ingredients:

Use a small tumbler to measure arrowroot, milk and jaggery or sugar.

Arrowroot powder – 1 cup

Coconut milk or milk – 1 cup

Jaggery or sugar – 1 cup (grated)

Ghee – 2 tablespoons

Water – 2 cups

Cashew bits – 2 tablespoons

Cardamom powder – 1 teaspoon

Method:

– Mix arrowroot powder in water and keep aside for one hour.

– After an hour, pour the top/soaked water. Add 2 cups of water, mix nicely and sieve this solution to remove any impurities.

– Make jaggery syrup by adding little water, boil and sieve the solution to remove any impurities.

– Grease one steel plate with little ghee and keep it aside. Roast cashew bits with a drop of ghee and keep aside.

– Mix sieved mixture, coconut milk, jaggery syrup in one thick Kadai and heat the mixture by stirring continuously on low fire.

– Add ghee in-between, when it is half done add cardamom powder, cashew and stir once.

– When the mixture leaves the sides of the vessel and becomes one mass and non-sticky, pour the mixture to a greased plate.

– Take one flat spoon/ladle, apply some ghee to the back of the ladle and press the mixture to give a uniformly smooth texture and even thickness.

– When it cools down a little, mark and cut this into the desired shape and serve.

– Please note, this halwa/ halbayi stands good only for one day. If you want to enjoy this dish over more days, you should store this in a refrigerator and reheat it before serving.

Sheer Khurma/ Sheer Khorma:

September 1, 2017

Sheer Khurma is also known as Sheer Khorma. The term represents Milk with dry dates. It is Vermicelli kheer with lots and lots of dry fruits and dry dates. It is a traditional sweet dish, which is served during Eid Ul Fitr.

I wanted to try this recipe from so long. I took my house-help’s help to gather how it is made and she described to me how her mom used to make this on festival days. She guided me on how to chop all these dry fruits as well.

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Ingredients:

Milk – 1.5 litres.

Ghee – 2 to 3 tbl spoon (to fry all the dry fruits)

Sugar – to taste (used almost ½ cup)

Dry dates – ¼ cup (sliced length wise)

Almond – ¼ cup (slivered)

Cashew – 2 table spoon (bits)

Pista – ¼ cup (chopped)

Raisins – 2 table spoons

Chironji – 2 table spoons

Vermicelli – ¼ cup

Saffron – 8 to 10 strands

Cardamom – ½ tea spoon.

Method:

-Take ghee in a thick bottomed kadai and roast vermicelli, remove and keep aside.

– Fry all the dry fruits one by one.

– Soak saffron in 2 table spoons of hot milk and keep aside.

– Take roasted vermicelli and dry fruits together in this same kadai and pour milk and boil.

– Cook this until you see a creamy texture and vermicelli is perfectly done.

– It takes anywhere between fifteen to twenty minutes.

– Now add in sugar and check for the sweetness and adjust the quantity and boil.

– Lastly add soaked saffron and cardamom powder.

– You can serve this as a hot dessert or chilled.

Banana Berati / Plantain Preserve:

August 29, 2017

Whenever you have large stock of over ripe bananas, this is one such procedure one can follow and finish off all the stock and preserve this for future use. This preserve stays good almost a year or more in the freezer. It is a very handy when you want to make banana payasam/kheer or Halwa. Here I have used yellow small variety of banana from Mangalore and we call this as Kadali.

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Ingredients:

Over ripe banana – 22

Sugar – 1 bowl

Method:

– Put all the peeled bananas to mixer grinder and make a smooth paste.

– Measure this by using any bowl of your choice. If this paste is 3 cups in quantity take one cup of sugar in that same measurement cup.

– So, your ratio of banana paste and sugar will be 3:1.

– Take one thick bottomed kadai, put this paste and keep gas flame in a very low flame and cook for a while.

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– When it changes its colour to milky white, then to a pale colour and when you smell the banana flavour in the air, add sugar and mix this in a regular interval.

– After some time, it will turn into a pinkish or reddish colour and it will start to leave the sides of the kadai. Now it is the time to remove it from the fire.

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– Keep as it is and when it reaches room temperature; store it in an airtight container or a zip lock.

– You can do this in a microwave as well. Only thing, you should remove the glass bowl at regular intervals and give a stir and proceed as given above.

Beaten rice/Poha laddu:

August 12, 2017

Wish you all my lovely readers a very happy Krishna janmashtami. As beaten rice is one of the favourite things of lord Krishna. Beaten rice is also known as poha in Hindi and Avalakki in Kannada.

This ladoo is one of my twin daughter’s favourite things in this whole wide world. I learnt this addictive crunchy ladoo recipe from my sister’s Mother-In-Law. Now let’s get started with the recipe.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat flour-1 cup

Chickpea flour/Besan -1 cup

Thick beaten rice – 2 cups (thicker variety, which is used for deep frying in savoury making)

Sugar- 2 ½ cup

Clarified butter (ghee) – ½ to ¾ cup (as required)

Dry fruits – 1 cup (We like chopped almond and cashew)

Cardamom powder – 1tsp

Method:

1. Dry roast wheat flour and chickpea flour separately in a thick bottomed vessel and keep small flame in a gas stove, so that flour will not get burnt and fry uniformly.

2. Fry dry fruits with little ghee and keep aside.

3. Deep fry beaten rice and put it in a tissue.

4. Take all these things (roasted flour, dry fruits, fried beaten rice, and cardamom powder) in a large bowl, to this add powdered sugar and mix everything nicely.

5. To the above mixture add melted little hot clarified butter or ghee and mix it with clean hand.

6. Once you can make ladoo stop adding clarified butter and continue making ladoo.

7. After it cools down, store this in a clean, dry airtight container and enjoy whenever you feel like.

Badam Halwa / Almond Halwa :

July 5, 2017

Badam halwa, the name itself brings back so many fond memories of my two kiddos’ as well as of my late father in law. My memories go back to my delivery time. When my father in law heard about my twin daughter’s arrival, he celebrated his joy by preparing and distributing this sweet to our near and dear ones. While growing up, even my kids used to enjoy this sweet and used to refer to this as “Yellow sweet”. After so many years last weekend I prepared this to celebrate my hubby’s birthday and enjoyed every bit of the preparation by cherishing all these fond memories.

I Normally follow this age-old method-

Ingredients:

Almonds – 500 grams

Sugar – 750 grams

Milk – ½ to ¾ litre

Ghee – 1 to 1 ½ cup

Saffron – 1 tsp

Cardamom powder – ½ teaspoon

Method:

– Soak almond overnight.

– The next morning, peel the skin. Usually three fourth of the content will shed their skin, if you mash those swelled almonds inside the water, by using your palm.

– After removing the outer skin, put these in a mixer grinder jar, make paste by adding sufficient milk.