Jewish Burfi - Tastes like toffee & Melts in the mouth ! This sweet requires no ghee ! Thick coconut milk - 1 cup Ordinary milk - 2 cups Sugar - 2 cups Mix both milks with sugar in a heavy pan. Boil the mixture till the mass leaves the sides of the pan & a soft ball consistency is reached. Remove & keep stirring till the mass thickens. Empty on a greased plate & cut. No essence is added because both the milks together give a nice flavour.
Doodh Peda - Let us start 2006 on a sweet note ! Full cream milk - 1 litre Sugar - 250 gms Cornflour - 1 tsp Cardamom powder - 1 tsp Chopped pista - 25 - 30 Powder the sugar. Boil milk & continue to boil till it reduces to 1/3 volume ( do not allow to become khoa). Add cornflour mixed with 1 tbsp milk. Now add powdered sugar & stir continuously. When it becomes quite thick ( crystallised look will appear at the edges – in tamil, we say “ poothu vanthathum” ), remove from flame. Add cardamom powder, mix & allow the mixture to cool in that vessel. When it starte solidifying, make 25-30 balls. Take each ball & make a depression in the centre with the thumb. Press a piece of chopped pista/almond in the depression & store in papercups.
Moong dhal halva - the Gujarathi way. For SBS photos,please go to http://www.indusladies.com/forums/968439-post60.html Split yellow moong dhal - 1/2 cup Milk - ½ cup Sugar - ¾ cup Ghee - 4 tbsp (1 tbsp more tastes very good) Cardamom powder - ½ tsp Saffron - ¼ tsp ( warm & powder) Chopped almonds & pista - to garnish Wash well & soak moong dhal for 3 hrs. Drain & grind to a coarse paste, adding minimum water. Heat the ghee, add the paste & fry on a low fire till the paste is well roasted & turns golden brown. Do this in a non-stick kadai, because ground moong dhal sticks to the bottom of the vessel quickly. Keep milk & !/2 cup water mixed & warm. Lower the flame & add this mixture stirring well. Continue to stir till all moisture is absorbed. Add sugar & continue to cook till ghee starts separating. If you do this in a microwave, you are saved the botheration of stirring continuously. Add spices, mix well & remove. Serve hot garnished with nuts.
Caramel Pori - Economical, crisp sweet ! Very crisp Pori - 8 cups Sugar - 1 cup Ghee - 2 tbsp. Keep a very well greased plate ready.. In a broad pan, caramelise sugar to light brown, adding ghee halfway. Switch off the stove, add pori & MIX THOROUGHLY. At once, empty on the plate or platform. QUICKLY, level very well, mark into squares with a sharp knife & invert the plate on a plastic sheet or aluminium foil. Break into pieces. Please go to Steps for Caramel Pori
Atta ka Sheera - Simpl(e)(y) delicious godumai mavu halwa ! With sugar: Atta - 1 cup Sugar - 1 cup Milk - 1 cup Ghee - ¾ cup + 1 tbsp for roasting nuts & raisins Cashew - 2 tbsp, chopped & keep one whole Raisins - 2 tbsp Cardamom powder The main point in this sweet is roasting the atta well, otherwise there will be a raw smell. Keep the milk, hot & ready. Heat ghee, reduce the flame & add atta with the whole cashew nut. Roast on a low fire, stirring well, till the cashew gets well roasted. This means, atta is also well roasted. Now add milk & sugar, whisking well. Cook till halwa consistency is reached. Add nuts & raisins roasted in ghee & cardamom powder. With jaggery: Wheat flour - 3 tbsp Ghee - 4 tbsp Jaggery - 1/3 cup Cardamom powder - ¾ tsp Chopped nuts - to garnish Heat ghee, add flour & roast on a slow fire stirring continuously, till a pleasant aroma comes & the colour turns light brown. In another stove, heat 1 cups of water with jaggery to melt it. Remove atta from fire to add this. Strain & add the syrup, whisking well to prevent lumps. Put back on fire. Stir gently & continuously till water evaporates & the ghee separates. Add cardamom powder & remove. Roast nuts in ghee to garnish & serve hot.
Aval Kesari - as well as Aval Sakkare Pongal. For SBS photos, please go to Aval kesari We call this aval sakkare pongal if jaggery is used & aval kesari, if sugar is used. Aval sakkare pongal recipe was given to me by my Bangalore friend – hence “ sakkare pongal” ! It is better to use medium or thick aval. Poha (aval) - 1 cup Milk - 1 cup Jaggery - 1 cup ( or sugar – 1 cup) Ghee - ½ cup Cashews chopped - 1 tbsp Raisins - 1 tbsp Cardamom Powder - ½ tsp Saffron - a pinch ( warm & powder) I used red poha & jggery. Soak poha in milk. Boil jaggery with 1 cup of water till it dissolves & strain. Boil again till it becomes a light syrup. If you are using sugar, do the same way. Pour in it, soaked poha with milk. Add ghee & cook till the mass leaves the sides of the vessel. Add spices & cashews & raisins fried in little ghee. Remove & serve hot. This is a quick & easy sweet.
Gulabjamun with khoa - how did I forget it all these days? For the jamuns: Sugarless khoa 200gms Maida 6 level tablespoons Soda a pinch Ghee 1 tsp Mix the above thoroughly & add little water to make a dough. The kneading must be done very soft & there should not be any cracks in the balls. Rest for 10 mts & make balls. Heat oil to just medium & add the balls. It is safer to tet-fry one ball, first. Deep fry on low heat till brown.( not more than 4 at a time ) Remove, transfer to a tissue paper, wait for about 5 secs & put in syrup which can be hot or cold . Syrup: Sugar 400 gms – 2 cups Water 400 ml – 2 cups Cardamom powder - 1 tsp Saffron - ¼ tsp ( warm & powder ) Saffron colour - 2,3 drops Heat water & sugar till sugar dissolves & add 1 tbsp milk. Strain to remove the dirt collected When it boils add spices & colour & remove when it becomes sticky to touch. The balls have to be hot when you put in syrup - this is important. Soak for minimum 12 hrs before serving it.
Chocolate Burfi - made with milk powder. For SBS photos,please go to http://www.indusladies.com/forums/968446-post61.html This burfi tastes like milk chocolate. Whole milk powder - 2 heaped cups Sugar - 2 level cups Water - 1 cup White butter - 50 gms – keep it soft Cocoa - 2 tbsp Sieve together milk powder & cocoa. Boil water & sugar on a low fire, stirring regularly. When it just reaches soft ball consistency, add butter & remove. Add the dry mixture, stirring continuously. When it reaches dough consistency, empty into a greased plate & cut into pieces.
Chikki - the caramel version of vella urundai. For SBS photos, please go to http://www.indusladies.com/forums/968451-post62.html Sugar - 1 cup Roasted crisp nuts - 1 cup ( can be just peanuts or a combination of halved crisp pista, blanched, halved & crispened almonds, crisp melon seeds etc) - bake in a tray at 140 deg C for 10mtes Ghee - 2 tbsp In a heavy kadai, mix sugar & ghee & melt – stir gently & occasionally. Once they both have mixed well, don’t stir & keep on medium heat. When the sugar completely melts & caramelises, it turns into honey colour. Add nuts & switch off. Mix well & empty on an aluminium foil. Roll quickly with a well greased rolling pin. Mark before it sets. Cut when cold – rather break into pieces .
Ginger Halwa - call it Ginger Jam, as well. Tender ginger - 250 gms Ghee - 100 gms Sugarcandy ( kalkandu or mishri ) - 350 gms Rava - 2 tbsp Cardamom powder - 1 tsp Grate or crush ginger, take in a thin cloth & extract juice completely. Dissolve sugarcandy in just enough water by boiling on low heat. Add rava to ginger juice. Heat ghee, add ginger-rava mixture & stir till dry. Add sugarcandy water & cardamom powder. Boil to jam consistency. Ideal side dish to adai, parathas, bread etc. Can be made thicker & wrapped in toffee paper.