Peanut Sesame Laddu

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Great healthy snack especially during winter for everyone!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup peanuts

1/2 cup sesame seeds

1 cup jaggery, crushed

METHOD:

In a heavy bottom pan, roast peanuts on medium low flame and keep stirring to ensure it gets roasted evenly. You are looking for light golden brown color with nutty aroma. Once done, transfer to a bowl/plate to cool it down.

In the same pan, roast sesame seeds until it starts to pop. Set aside in a separate bowl/plate. Once both are cooled, rub the peanuts between your palms to eliminate the skin. This step is optional.

Pulse the peanuts and sesame seeds separately in a blender. (Pulse in the blender couple of times for few seconds to ensure they form fine powder). Remove and keep it aside.

Pulse crushed jaggery for few seconds and add both sesame seed powder and peanut powder into the blender and give it one final pulse.

Transfer to a mixing bowl, mix well and roll to small laddus.

Desserts/Sweets

Carrot Halwa (Gajar ka halwa)

Ingredients:

Carrots- 6 medium (grated)

Unsweetened khoya- 1/2 cup (grated)

Sugar- 1/2 cup

Ghee or clarified butter- 4 Tbsp

Cashew- 3 Tbsp

Raisins- 2 Tbsp

Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp

Method:

Heat clarified butter in a pan on medium heat, then add cashews and sauté until light golden brown. Add raisins mix for 5-6 seconds and quickly remove the cashews and raisins leaving behind clarified butter in the pan.

Now add the grated carrots and cook them nicely in the ghee (for 8-10 minutes).

Add khoya give it a nice stir and lastly add sugar.

Mix and cook for 6-8 minutes until everything is well combined and comes together. Add in cardamom powder and mix.

Garnish with cashews and raisins!

Enjoy!!!

Desserts/Sweets

Kesar Peda

Ingredients:

Soft unsweetened khoya-1.10 lb or 500gms (store-bought)

Powdered Sugar- 0.44 lb or 200gms

cardamom – 1tsp

saffron -12 to 15 strands

milk – 1 tbsp

Method:

Heat 1 tbsp of milk in a microwave safe bowl for 15 seconds and add the saffron strands and keep aside.

Crumble the khoya and mix it with powdered sugar in a nonstick pan on medium heat.

Keep stirring until it forms a thick mass (approx 7-8 minutes) Add cardamom powder.

Then add the milk along with the strands and mix well. Turn off the heat. Any of these two methods could be followed :

1:If cutting them into squares or diamond shape-Grease a heatproof plate with 1/4 tsp ghee or clarified butter, spread the mixture and cut them into desired shapes when warm.

2: If making them into round shape-Let the mixture cool for few minutes. Make them into small 1-2 inch rounds with your hands (by pinching 1-2 inch mixture from the lump and gently rolling them in between your palms), when they are still warm.

Garnish with few pistachios and saffron strands and serve.

Cakes n bakes, Desserts/Sweets

Baklava

Last month, my friend invited me for a potluck party, I agreed and I decided on making Baklava. I had made these before and was comfortable preparing it the second time too.. but here comes the trouble..

Baklava’s were baking and I kept the syrup on stove and forgot to start the timer. BUMMER! Meantime my son started throwing tantrums and had to be with him for a while and completely forgot about the syrup boiling. When I was back to the kitchen, my syrup had crystallized and had to redo the syrup all over again! Thankfully I was ahead of time and prepared the syrup right on time when the baklava’s just finished baking.

All in all, never forget to start on your timer 🙂 Baklava’s turned out nicely and everyone enjoyed eating it!

Ingredients:

1/2 (16 ounce) package phyllo dough

9 ounces chopped nuts ( I used almonds, pistachios, walnuts)

1/2 cup and 1 tbsp butter

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 cup and 1 tbsp water

1/2 cup and 1 tbsp white sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup and 1 tsp honey

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×9 inch pan.
Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside.

Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work.

Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered.

Sprinkle 2 – 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 -8 sheets deep.

Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan.

Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.

Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

Desserts/Sweets

Mysore pak

Mysore pak is a sweet very popular in Karnataka,India. It just consist of three simple ingredients gram flour, sugar and ghee. I often make this sweet as its my husbands favorite sweet. It is simple to make but if the ingredients are not fresh and measured properly, there are chances of ruining the sweet.

This sweet is solely dedicated to Rukmini aunty (my friends mom) who actually taught me this recipe. She is an expert in making sweets. She was practically there with me when I tried it for the first time…I can never forget how well she taught me the technique. I always had filter coffee and a piece of Mysore pak when I visited her place. I miss those days!

You get the best mysore pak when the gram flour and ghee are fresh. Many people in my home town grind the chick pea fresh from the mill and use homemade ghee.

Ingredients:

Chick pea/Gram flour/ Besan-1 cup

Ghee/Clarified butter- 2 cups ( preferably homemade ghee)

Sugar- 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups

Water-3/4 cup

Preparation:

Add gram flour to the non stick pan and dry roast it for few minutes until the raw smell of the flour disappears and it turns light golden-yellow and keep aside.

Heat water in a pan on medium heat and add sugar, bring it to a two string consistency and add ½ cup of ghee. Turn the heat to low and slowly add gram flour (one or two spoons at a time) and mix well after each addition making sure no lumps are formed. (if you are doing it for the first time, take the help of a second person while doing this step). You can bring back the heat to medium now.

Stir continuously and keep adding ghee slowly into the mixture and mix well. (When 2-3 tbsp of ghee is added at a time, the ghee starts floating on the gram flour mixture, do not panic.. stir continuously until it is well incorporated. Add the ghee and mix in the same fashion until all the ghee has been mixed well.) The mixture becomes thick and starts leaving porous bubbles. Its time to stir it well until it forms one big lump and leaves the pan from the sides. Turn off the heat and pour the mixture on a greased plate. Cut the sweet into desired pieces when mildly hot.

Desserts/Sweets

Dark Chocolates

Preparation: 1

Ingredients:

Organic cacao powder-1/2 cup

Honey-2 Tbsp

Pure vanilla extract-1/2 tsp

Melted coconut oil – 1/4 cup

Method:

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl and stir until well mixed and smooth.

You can pour the chocolate into candy molds to make chocolate candy or use a pan which is lined with a wax paper or parchment paper and pour into the pan.

Freeze until hardened about half an hour and store in the refrigerator.

Preparation : 2

Ingredients:

Cacao powder-3.5 Tbsp

Cocoa butter- 3.5 Tbsp

Honey- 1 tbsp

Pure vanilla extract-1/2 tsp

Chopped hazelnuts or any other nuts-2 Tbsp

Method: Melt the cacao butter on a double boiler or boil water in a vessel and keep an empty container on top of it and melt the cacao butter.

Once melted, add honey, vanilla extract and cacao powder and mix well until smooth.

You can pour the chocolate into candy molds to make chocolate candy or use a pan which is lined with a wax paper or parchment paper and pour into the pan. Add chopped hazelnut on top. Freeze until hardened about half an hour and store in the refrigerator.

Preparation : 3

Ingredients:

Cacao powder- 4 Tbsp

Coconut oil-6 Tbsp

Unrefined sugar-6 Tbsp

Chopped almonds-2 Tbsp

Cranberries-2 Tbsp

Method:

Powder the sugar finely. Melt the coconut oil on a double boiler or boil water in a vessel and keep an empty container on top of it and melt the coconut oil.

Once melted, add sugar and cacao powder and mix well until smooth.You can pour the chocolate into candy molds to make chocolate candy or use a pan which is lined with a wax paper or parchment paper and pour into the pan. Add chopped almonds and cranberries on top. Freeze until hardened about half an hour and store in the refrigerator.

Desserts/Sweets

Amarkhand/ Mango Shrikhand

Ingredients

Full fat yogurt-4 cups

Sugar– 1/2 cup

Mango pulp-1 cup

Cardamom powder-1 tsp

Coarsely ground pistachios– 3 Tbsp

Preparation:

Take 4 cups of yogurt in a muslin cloth. Tie a knot and hang it overnight. This is a very crucial step in making good Shrikhand. Make sure to remove as much as water as possible.

Add sugar and mango pulp. Adjust the sugar according to the sweetness of mango. Beat the mixture very well. (I used hand blender and blended for 12-15 minutes).

The consistency should be thick and creamy. Add cardamom powder and garnish with pistachios. Serve chill.

Linking the post to Fruit Feista, Holi fest colorful palette, Cakes, Cookies and Desserts

Desserts/Sweets

ABC halwa

Ingredients:

carrot- 2(grated)

Apple-2(grated)

Banana-2(mashed)

Whipping cream-1/4 tin

Shredded Coconut-4 tbsp

Ghee-3 tbsp

Sugar-4 tbsp (depending on the sweetness of the fruit)

Cardamom powder-1/2 tsp

Cashew and raisins for garnishing

Preparation:

In a heavy bottom pan, heat ghee, add cashews ( I added around 10-12 cashews, and 10-15 raisins) fry until golden brown. Add raisins, remove quickly and keep aside.

Next add grated carrot and apple into the ghee,cover and cook for 5 minutes. Add banana and whipping cream (can use milk too) and mix well. Cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add sugar( if the fruits are sweet enough, add less sugar. Sugar can be added at any point) and mix shredded coconut. Do not cook too much after adding the coconut. You would want to leave it a bit crunchy. Turn off the heat, Mix cardamom powder and garnish with cashews and raisins.

Linking this post to Fruit Feista, HITS~Fiber Rich Foods

Desserts/Sweets

Rasmalai

I am also sending this Bengali sweet to PJ http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/2010/11/announcing-celebrate-sweets.html who is hosting this event which was started by Nivedita from Nivedita’s kitchen http://niveditaskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/09/details-of-event-celebrate-sweets.html.

Whole milk or 2% reduced fat milk – 16 cups (8cups for paneer + 8 cups for making Ras)

Lemon- ¼ cup

Sugar-2½ cups for cooking paneer and ¾ cup for making Ras

Crushed Cardamom-½ tsp

Saffron – 8 to 10 strands

Cheese cloth/muslin cloth

Pistachios, almonds sliced- ½ tsp

Water-1.2 liters

*Sugar needs to be adjusted according to individuals taste.

Preparation:

To make Paneer:

Bring 8 cups of milk to boil. Use a heavy bottom pan so as to avoid burning of the milk. Cook on medium heat.

Stir occasionally, once the milk comes to boil dilute ¼ cup of lemon juice in little water and add slowly into the milk and stir the content.

Milk starts curdling. Turn off the heat when paneer gets separated from the whey and strain the whey from paneer using a cheese cloth or muslin cloth.

Run cold water under paneer for few minutes and remove excess of water by squeezing gently.

Tie the muslin cloth/ cheese cloth tightly so as to remove all the water content and hang it for an hour for the moisture to drain.

Make sure to remove as much as water as you can. To check if the paneer is ready, take a small piece and rub it with your palm, it should not stick to your palm and you should be able to make a smooth ball. This is the most critical step in making rasgullas or rasmalais. Remove the paneer from the cloth and knead softly, make it into round balls and flatten them slightly.

You can make approximately around 12 Rasmalais.

To cook the paneer:

Add 1.2L of water into the pressure cooker and 2½ cups of sugar. Heat it until all sugar dissolves and allow it to boil for 3-4 minutes. Add the paneer and pressure cook for 9-10 minutes. Make sure there is enough space for the paneer to bloat. Once cooked, the paneer doubles in size. Remove them from sugar syrup and squeeze them gently. Remove as much water as you can. Keep them aside.

To make Rasmalai:

Heat 8 cups of milk in a thick bottomed pan. Keep the heat on medium and cook till the milk reduces to half. Keep stirring occasionally to make sure you do not burn the milk. Add ¾ cup sugar and cook till sugar is dissolved. Add saffron strands and crushed cardamom into the milk. Now it’s time to add the cooked paneer. Mix them well making sure not to break any of the paneer. Turn off the heat and let it cool for some time. Refrigerate and serve it chilled! Before serving garnish it with some sliced pistachios and almonds …..

Desserts/Sweets

Rasgulla

I am sending this Bengali sweet to PJ http://seduceyourtastebuds.blogspot.com/2010/11/announcing-celebrate-sweets.html who is hosting this event which was started by Nivedita from Nivedita’s kitchen http://niveditaskitchen.blogspot.com/2010/09/details-of-event-celebrate-sweets.html

Ingredients:

Whole milk or 2% reduced fat milk -8cups

Lemon Juice– ¼ cup

Sugar-2½ cups

Cheese cloth/muslin cloth

Water-61/2 cups

*Sugar needs to be adjusted according to individuals taste.

To make Paneer:

Bring 8 cups of milk to boil. Use a heavy bottom pan so as to avoid burning of the milk. Cook on medium heat.

Stir occasionally, once the milk comes to boil dilute ¼ cup of lemon juice in little water and add slowly into the milk and stir the content.

Milk starts curdling. Turn off the heat when paneer gets separated from the whey and strain the whey from paneer using a cheese cloth or muslin cloth.

Run cold water under paneer for few minutes and remove excess of water by squeezing gently.

Tie the muslin cloth/ cheese cloth tightly so as to remove all the water content and hang it for an hour for the moisture to drain.

To make Rasgullas:

Add 61/2 cups of water into the pressure cooker and 2½ cups of sugar. Heat it until all sugar dissolves and allow it to boil for 3-4 minutes. Add the paneer and pressure cook for 9-10 minutes.

Make sure there is enough space for the paneer to bloat. Once cooked, the paneer doubles in size.

Cool them down and refrigerate for few hours before serving.

Kai Ruchi

For the love of cooking

Category Archives: Desserts/Sweets

Peanut Sesame Laddu

INGREDIENTS:

METHOD:

Carrot Halwa (Gajar ka halwa)

Kesar Peda

Baklava

Mysore pak

Dark Chocolates

Amarkhand/ Mango Shrikhand

ABC halwa

Rasmalai

Rasgulla

INGREDIENTS:

METHOD:

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