Almond halwa-badam halwa

Hello friends! It has been a year now since I last posted on this space and today I am resuming  my food blog with a great sweet badam halwa or almond halwa. Co incidentally my last post was also a sweet and beginning of new post again a sweet by  Sandhya  who happens to be the  host of last of the challenges of SNC event started by  Divya of You too can cook.

They were monthly challenges  since two years where north and south teams exchanged their recipes. A long journey but sadly due to personal reasons and time restraints could not continue my food blog and snc challenges. Since I am part of north team I have to cook this delicious almond halwa and  timing could not be better here.  The version Sandhya has used is slightly different than what I had made previously known as Almond Fudge. The way I made was using almonds dry but here lets follow Sandhya's recipe for badam halwa now. For step by step instructions check Sandhya's space.

Ingredients:
1 cup almonds ( soaked over night)
1 1/2 cup sugar
3 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp saffron
1/4 cup milk
a pinch of  cardamom powder ( optional)

Method:
Dry almond method given above my almond fudge has almost same ingredient but way is different. You can check out the previous dry version. I have used the same measurements given here by  Sandhya but with less quantity.
Soak the almonds over night and  peel of the skin next morning. Grind the peeled almonds using milk little by little to make a smooth  paste.
Make one string consistency of sugar syrup by boiling sugar in enough water to get the right consistency. This part has always stumped me and always I need help to get right consistency. In the same pan, mix the almond paste and cook over the medium heat while stirring continuously.  Keep stirring the halwa till it thickens and leaves side. Add ghee and saffron and cardamom powder  and stir it.  Once halwa starts to change color slightly, switch off the gas. Let it cool down and serve at room temperature. Make sure halwa is bit wet and do not let it thicken too much or it would not have the soft texture. The delicious badam halwa is ready.

I would be resuming  my food blog with more delicious recipes and much more, so stay tuned and  support my space as all of you have always done.

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Rose flavoured sooji halwa

Hello friends!  How is everyone today? I have two queries and I would appreciate your feedback on that. 1)  Is my way of writing appealing,engaging,boring,dull or exciting or anyother?
2) Are my fonts here correct or do I need to change them?
Would love to know what my readers really think and I tend to write as I am speaking to the readers face to face. Humor is much needed that's why I add a dose of humor in my posts.  Do let me know what you think either in comments below or mail me using contact form above.


Now coming to the recipe. It is said necessity is the mother of invention and we mothers make new invention in our kitchen all the time. This recipe was the result of some brainstorming and to make something new. Well, for me it was a new dish though.

Ingredients:

1 cup sooji/semolina
2 tbsp ghee
water as needed
1-2 tbsp rose syrup
sugar as needed
dry fruits for garnish

Method:

Its the same as we make rava kesari or normal sooji halwa except change the flavour. Heat ghee and roast sooji for few mins. Boil water on side.  Once sooji is roasted add water and rose syrup and mix well. Heat till sooji and water is mixed and sooji is cooked.  Halwa would look pink at this stage. Add sugar as needed as rose syrup itself is sweet so be careful with sugar. Mix and remove on plate.Garnish with dry fruits of your choice. Serve hot.
I got lovely pink color to the halwa. What do you think of this?  Over to you for your lovely comments.

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Microwave Besan laddoo

Hello friends! Today is janmashtmi, birth of Lord Krishna. I thought why not share one of my favourite recipes now on this occasion. I have always loved Besan Laddoo and one of my friend knew my craving or weakness for this and she would make full tin and give it to me.

I had made this recipe on stove top also and it came out good except I could not give it laddoo shape. Recently I bought a microwave convection oven and  kept experimenting and trying out things. I have made few dishes with it already which I would share with you all soon but today I want to share with you this yummy sweet dish. Its really pretty easy one.

Temperature and settings would vary from oven to oven.

Ingredients:

1 cup besan

3/4 cup castor sugar

6-7 tbsp ghee

1/4tsp cardomom powder

Method:

Heat ghee in a microwave safe bowl at 100% power for 1 min.

Carefully remove the bowl and add besan  and mix it well. Microwave at 100% power for 4min, stirring it after every 1min.

Then again microwave at 50% power  for 3mins stirring continuously after every 1 min.

Remove from oven and add castor sugar and  cardomom powder and mix it thoroughly.

Let it cool and then divide into small portions and shape them in  form of laddoos. Store it in airtight container.

Laddoos are ready and  I am sure no one would stop and it would finish in no time.

This recipe was written with the book I got with oven.  Hope you enjoy this yummy sweet.

Notes: I did not have castor sugar with me so I just used my mixie to grind sugar and for extra flavour I added few cashewnuts along with green cardamom.

You can have them as it is or decorate with pistachio or  cashewnuts.

I have made this few times already. so tip is initially use less ghee and later if the laddos are not forming add a little melted ghee to hold them. If there is too much ghee it wont form shape.

For stove top method: Make it same way. Roast besan with little ghee till aromatic smell comes out and make sure not to over cook the besan. Remove from gas and add sugar and cardomom powder. Let it cool and then form laddos.

So what do you think of my attempts with this. Waiting to hear from you all and HAPPY JANMASHTMI  to everyone..

My blogger friend Divya had organised a massive master chef contest on her blog and very recently she announced the winners. Divya gave participation certificates plus nomination certificates to everyone. Thank you Divya for this wonderful opportunity.

My recipe was grilled paneer bhurji sandwich  and you can read about it HERE

This is a repost.
Linking this to 60 days to christmas

Event hosted by Divya from You too can cook and Priya from Cook like Priya

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Nei Urundai / Ghee Moong Dal Balls...Guest post

Hello everyone!Today I am pleased to welcome a dear friend and fellow blogger Divya Pramil. She has wonderful blog with both veg and non veg dishes at http://youtoocancookindianfood.blogspot.in/. And she is sharing one interesting South Indian sweet dish with us here. Read on in her own words...


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I am a home maker and married for a year and half to my love. I love cooking and started to love it right from my childhood days. My hubby loves all my recipes; I try my best to satisfy his taste buds by cooking varieties and traditional food too.  Here in my blog I try to update only the best recipes that my hubby considers fit for sharing. I have keen interest on art work especially aari work and painting. And I love watching Disney cartoons and Movies especially Cinderella. Blogging has helped me go further into the world of cooking, find new friends and well wishers like Meenu (Meena ji). Thanks Meenu for giving me this nice opportunity.  I think that was too much about me so let’s move on to the recipe.

Nei Urundai is a very traditional recipe from Tamil Nadu. It is so aromatic, delicious and perfectly suits any celebrations. I love it and do make it quite often when I feel like having a rich sweet recipe that can be made in just minutes. It is so simple to make, does not need too much of effort and can be made in a jiffy. You can make this sweet recipe using moong dal or urad dal or with chana dal also. But my favorite is the moong dal version. The ghee’ aroma and moong dal’s flavor blends very well and you will realize it in every bite, it will just melt in your mouth.  Just try it and you will fall in love with it.  Now let’s see what is needed and how to prepare it. 

INGREDIENTS

1.       Moong dal / Green gram dal / Paasi paruppu – ½ cup
2.      Sugar – ½ cup or lesser
3.      Ghee – 5 spoons
4.      Cashews – 5 (Optional) 

 

PREPARATION METHOD

Heat a pan/wok and dry roast moong dal until it turns slightly reddish/brown. Do not burn it. It must have a pleasant aroma. 

Remove from flame and in the same pan dry roast cashews until it turns slightly brown. 

Remove from flame and set them aside until they reach room temperature. 

In a blender add the roasted cashews, moong dal and sugar and make a fine powder out of it.

Heat a tadka pan or pan/wok and add ghee to it and let it melt. Add this to the powdered mixture and mix well.

Make small balls or any desired shapes out of it and serve. 

TIP 1: Make it a very fine powder to get the best consistency. My hubby loves it crunchy so I make it a little coarse. It will taste good too.

TIP 2: I have added cashews which will enhance the flavor and aroma. You can omit them, they are optional. Even without cashews the recipe will taste super delicious.

TIP 3: Roast the moong dal evenly and well by stirring frequently, so that all the grains are cooked evenly. Never burn them; it will spoil the taste of the balls. 

TIP 4: You can use the chana dal (kadalai paruppu) and urad dal (Ulutham paruppu) for making these balls. 

Tip 5: You can make powder using these dals and store it for future use. So you can make these balls quickly on any occasion. See that there is no water in the blender or the containers in which you store them. Use dry and clean airtight containers.

Yummy and aromatic Nei urundai is now ready!! Serve it as a snack!!

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Thank you Divya for a yummy dish. Hope you all like it and over to you all for feed back.

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Aam ras with puri/mango puree

Hello everyone! How have you all been? Well, the mango season is about to end. So I thought why not make aamras to ease my tummy and be at ease with this heat which is still here. Today I would  show you easy way to make aamras or in short mango puree which you can eat it as it is or with poori or as a topping on any dish. 

Its very easy and simple to make but taste wise yummy.

Ingredients for aamras:

2 Alphonso mangoes

Sugar if needed

Milk if needed

Method:

Peel the mangoes and take the pulp out. Make a smooth puree using mixer or handblender.  I used blender here.  Add sugar if you want more sweet and if the  puree is thick add slight milk.  Its done and your mango puree or aamras is ready.  Keep it in fridge to be chilled and serve it later with pooris. Pooris are standard and I am sure all know how to make it

Yummy yummy isn’t it?

So what are you waiting for! Have nice sweet aamras with poori.  

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Almonds fudge/badam barfi

Hello all! It has been long time since I posted and I had taken a mini break also. I would put up my travel post soon but 9th June happens to be my blog’s first anniversary which few weeks back seemed a distant dream.  So thought why not share something sweet with you. My today’s recipe is badam barfi or almond fudge.  I would show you how its made in my household and I don’t claim to be expert at all and hence my recipes here are very simple everyday cooking. Enough of talking and hope you like this badam barfi.

Ingredients:

1 cup almonds

½ cup sugar

1tbsp ghee

2 tbsp milk

1tsp poppy seeds, (optional)

1tsp cardamom powder (optional)

Method:

Dry grind the almonds roughly to a slight powdery form.  Take a pan and heat 1 tbsp ghee, once it melts add almonds and stir it for 3-4 minutes till lovely aroma comes out. Make sure it doesn’t turn too brown.  Add sugar and stir it again till sugar is mixed in almonds.  Add milk now and stir it till it becomes bit lump and leaves the side of pan. The barfi should not be too brown and it should look bit light.  

Take a greased thali or plate and pour the barfi mixture on it.  Smoothen it with spoon and  sprinkle poppy seeds and cardamom powder if you wish.  Let it set at room temperature. Then cut it in desired shape and store in airtight container. It would remain good till 7 days but I am sure with this yummy almond barfi no one would wait till it finishes. I am sorry as I couldn't take pics of stirring almonds powder in pan and so skipped to next part of setting up the barfi in plate.

Hope you all do try it and  let me know what you think. Poppy seeds or khus khus is my favourite and hence I use it in almost all of my sweets. 

The above measurements are for representation purpose only. Kindly adjust accordingly.

 GRIND THE ALMONDS LIKE THIS

SET IN THALI LIKE THIS

A LITTLE CLOSER LOOK

 ALL SET

 CUT IN DESIRED SHAPE

 YUMMY

Over to you for your views.

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Dudhi halwa

Hello my lovely friends! My today’s recipe is quite easy but this was the first time I attempted it. I am sure most of you already had made this and know about it. My mom used to make this but somehow I felt the taste weird always so never did like it. This time my mom and dad were with me for few days so I said I would make dudhi halwa for you and you tell me how its made. Imagine my surprise when I saw it was very easy to make and doesn’t take time at all and it tasted awesome.

Lets begin making our delicious healthy  dudhi halwa and co incidentally this is my 50^th post which in my early days I felt I  may not reach hehe. So kuch meetha ho jaaye………..!!!!

Ingredients:

1 bottlegourd/dudhi/giya 

 3tbsp milk 

¼ cup sugar or to taste

1tbsp ghee

Pinch of  cardamom powder 

To garnish khus khus. Cut almonds, few strands of kesar (saffron)

Method:

Grate the dudhi and squeeze out all the water. In a pan heat ghee and add dudhi. Stir for just few mins and don’t let dudhi get brown. Add milk here and as dudhi leaves lot of water so milk shud be less. Alternatively you can use condensed milk. Stir it again till dudhi and milk are mixed. Add sugar to taste and stir again. Sugar would leave out more water so let it cook for few mins till it leaves sides.  Add kesar, and almonds here and  garnish with my favourite khus khus. The color of halwa would remain bit greenish.

Serve it hot.

Let me know what is your views on this.

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Wheat flour halwa..

Hello everyone! This week I have a reason to be happy as my page rank went up to 2 and now since this is valentine day so why not make something sweet.

It is very easy to make and I am sure most of you have already tried that. Its wheat flour sheera or halwa as you may like to call. I usually make this for breakfast but it can be eaten anytime.

Ingredients: 

3tbsp ghee

1cup wheat flour

1/2cup sugar

Few strands of saffron

1tpsp khus khus /poppy seeds (optional)

For garnish pieces of almonds &/or  pistachios

Water 1 cup

Method:

Heat ghee in pan and add wheat flour. Keep  stirring it till it becomes dark brown but be careful not to burn the flour. If its too dry add one tbsp more of ghee.  Reduce heat and add water while stirring it continuously so no lumps are formed.  All the water would be soaked and flour would be cooked and then add sugar. Sugar would also leave some water so keep stirring it till sugar dissolves. Add khus khus here.

Take it off heat and add saffron and garnish with almonds and pistachios..

Your sweet sheera is ready in instant. 

Be careful with browning part of flour as when you add sugar then also color changes a little.

Serve hot.

P.s. I have made my own adjustments in this so try it your way with the adjustments you are ok with. Khus khus is optional but I use it for bit of crunchy feeling. I am sorry about picture quality as it seems something went wrong with my camera.

Submitting this entry to….. 

 Let's Cook: Sweet Somethings.

I have one more blog which is all about online games. feel free to check it if you want to pass your time...  ONLINE GAMES

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Carrot Halwa.... gaajar ka halwa

Hello everyone! Time to have something sweet… today's recipe is well known in Hindi films and I am sure everyone loves it.  Gajar ka halwa….. ha its seasons of carrots so got this recipe soon after my earlier one with carrots. Plus it was my son’s birthday few days back so thought why not make this dish.

Lets begin cooking…

Ingredients:

½  kg big carrots grated. (Preferably the red pink ones)

4 tbsp  ghee

Half cup sugar

Half cup milk

2tbsp poppy seeds (khus khus –optional)

Few almonds cut

Little saffron strands

1tsp  cardamom powder or 1 cardamom whole

( now these are all adjustable to your needs and your style of cooking)

Method:

Grate the carrots and keep them aside. In a deep pan  put ghee, let it heat then put carrots and stir them for few mins till carrot sweet smell comes. 

Next put milk and stir the carrots and let them cook for few mins. Here some people use mawa or khoya but I have never tried with it and used milk with equal results.  I like carrots soft here so I have put more milk but if you want bit dry then reduce the quantity of milk.

Let the milk dry up leaving the carrots soft.  Reduce flame and put sugar. Stir and as sugar also leaves some water so keep stirring till sugar dissolves.  Take the halwa out of gas.  Sprinkle saffron strands, cardamom powder, poppy seeds  and almonds on top.  Stir and serve hot or cold as you prefer.

Carrots after cooking reduce a lot so adjust your quantity accordingly.

Hope you enjoy this delicious yummy gajar ka halwa……

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