GulabJamun

 
Ingredients :

For Making Gulabjamun Balls 
1 cup milk powder (Use ful fat milk powder)
¼ cup all purpose flour or maida
1 tsp oil or ½ tsp ghee
A pinch of salt (optional)
A pinch of baking soda
1 to 2 tbsp yogurt
A few blanched pistachio or almond slices for garnishing

For the sugar syrup
2 cups water
1.5 cups sugar
3-4 green cardamoms powdered
A pinch of saffron (optional)



Method :

 First sieve dry ingredients into a mixing bowl(milk powder, plain flour and baking soda).
Mix in yogurt and ghee and start to mix the ingredients lightly to make soft sticky dough.Now pinch small portions rolling it into a smooth ball as shown in pic below. Make sure there are no cracks on the surface else the ball will break when it is being cooked. Shape the rest of the dough similarly.

  Prepare Sugar Syrup
Meanwhile to a saucepan add sugar, water and powdered cardamom and stir well, place on low flame. Stir well until the sugar dissolves and the syrup thickens slightly, this may take 5 minutes. (No string consistencies needed). Then remove from flame and set aside.

Frying the gulab Jamun

Place a frying pan on flame and pour oil to deep fry the balls.
Now after the oil heats up, (oil should not be too hot), gently slide the prepared balls into it. Do not over crowd the pan. And check that the flame is in low mode.The balls will sink to the bottom and then it will gently rise up.

 Slowly turn each balls with a slotted spoon, at frequent intervals to make sure that the balls brown evenly.

Once they turn golden brownr remove balls from flame and place on a tissue paper to remove excess oil.
Transfer them to the prepared sugar syrup.The Gulab Jamun should rest in the sugar syrup for at least 1 hour before serving so that they absorb the sugar syrup well and become soft and melt in mouth treats.

Garnish gulabjamuns with pistachio or serve them warm with a scoop of cold ice cream.

 

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Til Laddoo / Tila che ladu

Ingredients :

• White Sesame seeds 1 cup
• Jaggery/Gud 1 cup
• Raw Peanuts 1/2 cup
• Roasted channa daal (split and ready to eat) 1/4th cup
• Ghee/Clarified butter 1/4 th cup
• Cardamom powder 1/2 teaspoon

Method :

Note : This jaggery is specially called "Chikki cha gul". It is meant for making laddoos and is less brittle when cooked. You can use the regular jaggery if it not available in your local Indian grocery store.


Roast the sesame seeds and peanuts separately. Keep aside for cooling. After the peanuts are cold, skin it and crush them in a mortar and pestle, into big pieces. Heat the ghee in a vessel, when hot add the jaggery. The jaggery will liquefy and start to foam and froth. Remove the vessel from heat source and add the sesame seeds, crushed peanuts, roasted channa daal and cardamom powder. Mix well and keep stirring.
Using a little ghee to coat your hands take a piece of the warm mixture and form very small balls/laddoos, 1 inch in diameter. Store in a container. Will stay for a long time.

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Ale Pak (Ginger Sweet Cubes) / आल्याच्या वड्या

Ingredients :

• 200 gram ginger roots
• 300 gm powdered sugar
• 100 gm Khova or1 Cup milk with cream
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1-2 drops of kesar syrup for color

Method :

Wash and peel the ginger root. Cut into small pieces. . Add ginger pieces into a blender and Blend well and make a fine puree.Keep a steel plate ready. Grease it with some ghee.
Heat ghee into a deep saucepan. Add ginger mixture along with khoya or milk with cream, mix well.

Cook over medium-high heat. You can add 1-2 drops of kesar syrup for color if required.Keep stirring and do not let the mixture settle at the bottom.
Mixture will thicken . You will notice whitish froth around bubbles. Now within couple of minutes the mixture will be ready to spread. The mixture will gather in the center.Off gas and after 2 minuted add powdered sugar to mixture and mix well..

Immediately spread the mixture on greased plate and spread with spatula or greased flat based bowl.

Cut into 1 inch squares.

Let it cool down. Separate these vadis / cubes , and keep in airtight container.

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Chocolate Coconut Modak

Ingredients :

• 1 cup khoya/mava
• 3/4 cup icing sugar
• 1/2 cup milk powder
• 2 tbsp drinking chocolate powder or Grated Chocolate
• 1 Cup Desiccated Coconut powder or as required

Method :
Mix mava, cocoa powder / grated chocolate & milk powder  in a pan

Saute the mava, cocoa powder & milk powder over low heat until mixed properly.Take off the heat.

 Stir in the icing sugar & leave to cool down to room temperature.Then add desiccated coconut powder and mix well to form doughy consistency .
Stuff the mixture into modak moulds and make modaks as shown in below pictures
.

Place each modak on its base and leave to set at room temperature.

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Malai sandwich

Ingredients :

For Paneer :

• 4 Cups Milk
• 2 Tsp Lemon Juice dissolved in 1 Tbsp Water
• 2 Tsp Curd
• 1 Tbsp Maida (All purpose flour)
• A pinch of Red Color (Optional)

For Syrup :

• 4 Cups Water
• 2 Cups Sugar
• 1/4 Tsp Cardamom Powder

For Filling / Malai :

• 1/2 cup of Sweet Mawa / Khoya / Khawa
• 2-3 tsp of sugar pr  icing sugar.
• A pinch of saffron soaked in a spoonful of milk (optional)

Method :

Heat Milk and bring it to boil. When it starts boiling, add lemon juice, Add Curd and wait for milk to curdle completely. Then remove from heart and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.After that pour it over a thin cotton cloth and tie it with a tight knot. On straining this milk, what we get is Paneer.Wash this paneer nicely under cold water to remove lemon juice flavor.Now add pinch of red color and knead Paneer for 5-7 minutes to make a smooth dough.Add Maida and knead again for few minutes.Then make oval shaped balls of dough and keep aside.(Note: remember , balls will grow in size when cooked in syrup, so make them small in size , about 1.1/2-2 cm in size.)
Now for making sugar syrup, mix sugar , water and cardamom powder in a saucepan and bring it to boil. Add those paneer balls to hot syrup on medium heat and let it cook for 20 minutes with lid partially covered.Once paneer balls are cooked, turn off the gas and let it cool for 1 hour.

Now for Making Malai mixture. Mix khoya and icing sugar and blend in mixture to form a fine thick paste / creamy mixture.

After 1 hour remove paneer balls from sugar syrup , do not squeeze them.Cut each of them horizontally into 2 equal part, spread khoya mixture on one part and put other part on it,Garnish with Silver Foil, chopped pista. Refrigerate for 1 hour and served chilled.

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Shahi Tukda

Ingredients:

• 6 slices Bread
• 2 Tbsp Ghee
• 1 cup Full Cream Milk
• 2-3 Tbsp chopped Pista, almonds
• 1/4 cup Sugar
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1 Cardamom powder
• Few strands of saffron


Method :
Cut bread slices diagonally to form 2 triangles. Keep the bread aside for about 2 hours, so that it becomes hard. Now  To make the sugar syrup, mix sugar and water and set the mixture to boil. Now, simmer the solution for about 10 minutes and add powdered elachi into it. Take a pan and set the milk to boil.Add chopped pistas and almonds pieces, 3-4 tsp sugar. Simmer it until it reduces to 1/4th quantity. Simultaneously, keep stirring occasionally so that it does not stick to the pan. Add few strands of saffron to the thickened milk. Now Apply ghee on the sides of the bread and lightly fry/roast them until they turn golden brown on both sides. Arrange the fried bread on a plate. Pour the sugar syrup onto the bread and wait until it seeps down. Now, spread the milk mixture onto the bread and sprinkle some almonds, pista and saffron strands over it. Freeze it and serve when it is chill!

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Apple WalNut OatMeal

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 1/2 cup apple pulp
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 Tsp Walnut Pieces
• 1/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/4 tsp Cinnamon Powder
• 1 cup of water

Method :

Chop the apple into small pieces .Now take a sauce pan with water and apple pulp in it and boil.Add chopped apple to the above mixture.Then Add rolled oats , walnuts peices, sugar and cinnamon powder to it and stir well.Boil the mixture till it becomes thick.Off the stove when the mixture becomes thick.Add milk to it and stir well.Garnish with some apple pieces and walnut.Hot and yummy apple walnut oatmeal is now ready to serve.

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Banana Payasam

Ingredients :

• 2 Ripe Bananas
• 2 cups Milk
• 1/2 cup Powdered Jaggery
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
• 2 pinch Saffron 
• 3 tsp Butter
• Finely sliced dry fruits (Badam, Cashewnuts & Raisins)

Method :
Heat a little butter in a pan, roast the sliced dry fruits along with raisins and keep it aside.Mash the riped bananas with hand so as to form a rough paste.Heat a little butter in a pan and allow it to melt. Add the banana paste to it and fry till it turns slight brown. Add jaggery to it and keep mixing properly when all the jaggery is uniformly mixed, add milk to it and simmer and allow it to cook.Add the saffron to the payasam and bring it to boil. Add cardamom powder and roasted dry fruits to it.Mix properly and bring it to boil .Serve Hot .

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Gajar ka Halwa / Gajar Halwa

Gajar (Carrot) Halwa is a traditional dessert made with carrots and milk/ khoya

Ingredients :

• 2 Cups Grated Carrots .
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 2 Tbsp Khoya
• 2 Tsp Fresh Cream
• 2-3 Tbsp Dry Fruits Pieces
• 1 Tbsp Clarified Butter / Ghee

Method :

Heat ghee in a thick-bottomed pan, add grated carrots and saute for five minutes.Ad sugar and cook for two to three minutes or till the sugar melts and mixes well, stirring continuously.When mixture dries little bit then add khoya to the mixture and saute for 3-4 minutes. Then add fresh cream , fry fruits pieces and mix well and cook for 2 minutes. Garnish with some dry fruits and serve hot or at room temperature.

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GulPoli / Gulachi Poli / Jaggery Roti

Gulpoli as the name suggests is the poli/flatbread with jaggery filling. Gulpoli is generally made for the MakaraSankranti festival.

Ingredients :

For the dough

• 1 cup Whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup All purpose flour(Maida )
• 4 Tbsp Oil
• Less than 1 cup or As required Luke warm water 
• Salt - a pinch 
• Clarified Butter (Ghee)  for roasting.

For the filling

• 1 cup Grated Jaggery
• 1/4 cup Besan
• 4 Tbsp Sesame seeds 
• 1 Tsp Cardamom powder
• 1 Tsp Clarified Butter (Ghee )

Method :

Take the  both the flours and mix well. Heat oil in a tadka/seasoning pan. Pour the hot oil on to the flour. Mix well so that the oil coats the entire flour.  Add water in parts to make a tough dough. Cover the dough with wet cloth or bowl and rest it for 1/2 hour.

Now,Roast sesame seeds Roast besan in a tablespoon of ghee. Grind sesame seeds .Now Add the ground mixture, roasted besan, cardamom powder to the jaggery and Mix well. Make sure there are no tiny pieces of jaggery. 

Divide the dough and filling into equal portions each. Take a ball of dough. Roll it into a small circle. Place the filling on the roti and cover with the edges. Seal and roll into a roti of medium thickness. Heat a tawa. Smear some ghee and roast the polis on both side, till brown spots appear. The poli will be crisp and tastes awesome when hot. It is equally good even when it comes to room temperature.

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Kalakand / Malai Barfi

Kalakand / Malai Barfi is very traditional and delicious dessert, made with milk. Its soft and grainy in texture.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups omilk
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 to 3 Tsp lemon juice (for making paneer)
• 2 Tsp Curd
• 1 Tbsp Chopped Dry Fruits for Grnishing
• Silver Foil ( Optional)

Method :

Making Paneer:

     Boil the 4 cups of milk in a heavy bottomed pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, making sure not to burn milk.As the milk comes to a boil, add the lemon juice gradually and stir the milk gently. Then add Curd..The curd will start separating ,turn off the heat.Once the milk fat has separated , drain it using a strainer line with cheesecloth, or muslin cloth.Wrap the curd in a muslin cloth, rinse under cold water, and squeeze well. This process takes out the sourness from the lemon.To take out the excess water, squeeze the wrapped paneer. Do not knead the paneer.

Making Kalakand:

    Boil remaining 4 cup of the milk in a heavy bottom frying pan on medium high heat until the milk reduces to about two cups.Make sure to frequently stir the milk as the milk burns easily in bottom of the pan.Add the paneer in the milk and keep stirring till the mixture thickness and form a soft dough consistency.Add the sugar and continue to cook and stirring until the mixture become soft lump and start leaving the pan from sides.Pour it over greased plate keeping about half inch thick.

Garnish with Silver Foil and Dry Fruits pieces.Let it cool for about one hour. Cut the kalakand in squares and serve

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Bread Pudding / Bread pudding made in Cooker

Ingredients : 

• 14-15 slices of Bread ( take only White part ) 
• 2 Cups Milk
• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 1-2 Drops of Vanilla Essence

 For the Caramel

• 1/2 Cup Sugar
• 2 TbspWater

Method :
Tear the bread roughly into small pieces and soak it in the milk mixed with sugar and vanilla essence properly. Make sure the bread is smashed nicely in milk. Keep aside.
Then in a pan add in water and sugar for the caramel mix. Keep stirring on low-med flame. Once the sugar is thick leave as it on flame till you get brown color mixture. Just stir the pan once in a wile if you need.Once you get the brown color melted sugar, pour evenly in a pressure cooker pan and the on top of that put the bread mixture around and sprad with spoon evenly.
Cover the pan with aluminium foil and make holes randomly to keep the steam going through it. Pour sufficient water in pressure cooker and then put in the pressure cooker pan and steam cook for about 20-25 mins on low flame.

Let the pudding cool down completely and then in a plate topple over the mixture and chill it in fridge. Serve chilled.

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Kharavas

Kharvas' is the marathi name of a sweet steamed pudding made out of milk given by a cow or buffalo within a day after she has calved.

Ingredients :

• 1 Liter bovine colostrum milk ( Cheek )
• 1 or 1/2 liter Milk if required ( Please refer Method )
• 1-2 cup (more or less as pertaste / sweetness) grated jaggery or Powdered sugar
• 1 Tsp Cardamom Powder
• A few strands of saffron (optional )

Method :

P.N : If  Cheek is 1 day old then add 1 Liter Milk to Cheek, if Cheek is 2 days old then add 1/2 Liter Milk to it, and if Cheek is 3 or more days old then no need to add Milk.Dissolve the jaggery in the milk.  Add the cardamom powder and saffron to the milk.Pour the milk in a container that will fit in a pressure cooker or other large pan, with enough water in the outer pan for steaming. Cover with a lid and steam for 15-20 minutes .Or even you can Cook in pressure cooker with 3 whistles. Let cool completely , Then cut into pieces and chill it in the fridge for a few hours before serving.

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Coconut Burfi / Narala chi vadi

Ingredients :

• 2 Cup Grated Fresh Coconut ( take only white part)
• 1 Cup Sugar
• 1 Boiled & Grated Potato
• 2 Tsp Ghee ( Clarified Butter)
• 2-3 Tsp Powdered Sugar
• 1/2 Tsp cardamom powder

Method :

In a Big Pan add Grated Coconut, Sugar and Potato.

 Keep stirring on High Flame for 4-5 Minutes and then lower the flame. The mixture will start thickening and it will froth from all sides.

Keep stirring it till it dries.Add cardamom powder and mix well.

Now off the Gas and let the mixture cool for 2-3 mintues.Now add powdered sugar to the mixure and again mix well and then transfer the mixture into a ghee smeared plate.Spread evenly with a spoon.

Cool and cut into square or diamond shapes using a knife.

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Karanji

Ingredients :

For Dough :

• 1 Cup Maida
• 1 Tsp Ghee( Butter)
• A pinch of Salt
• Warm Water( for doughing)

For Stuffing :

• 1 Cup Grated Dry Coconut
• 1 Cup Powdered Sugar
• 1 Pinch Nutmeg Powder
• 1 Pinch Dry Ginger Powder
• 4 Elaichi
• 2 Tsp Maida
• 2 Tsp Poppy Seeds
• 2 Tbsp Mixed Dry Fruits Pieces

Method :

In order to prepare Karanji, you will have to first prepare dough and then prepare the stuffing. Once you are done with both of them, you simply need to fill the stuffing and deep fry the Karanji.

Dough Preparation :

Mix 1 cup maida, 1 tbsp ghee, a pinch of salt and warm milk to prepare the dough, try to keep the dough a little hard.

Stuffing Preparation

Roast dry coconut. Roast maida in ghee.Roast poppy seeds. Mix all the above ingredients and mill them finely.

Karanji Preparation

Roll small oval shaped puris from the hard dough. Now place the prepared stuffing in the middle of it. Stick both the corners of the puri by applying some water or milk so that it will seal properly. Remember not to apply too much of water as it will not seal properly.Deep fry it till it becomes brownish color.Serve it hot or cold as you wish.

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Shankarpali

Ingredients :

• 1 1/2 cup Milk

• 2 cups Sugar

• 3.1/2 cup Maida [all purpose flour ]

• 1/2 teaspoon Salt

• 3/4 th cup Ghee

• Oil to fry

Method :

Mix ghee, sugar and milk in a pan and heat it till the sugar melts and the mixture starts boiling. Turn the heat off, as soon as the mixture starts boiling. Let the mixture cool down. Mix maida in above mixture and keep adding it till you get a nice, stiff dough. The consistency of the dough should be such that you should be able to roll it. [not too thin, not too stiff.]  Heat oil, in a kadhai. Divide the dough in equal parts, roll it, into round shape like a chapati. [it should not be very thin.]  Cut it with a knife into small squares. Fry in oil, on medium heat, till you get light brown colour. Serve these nice crispy, crunchy shankarpali with tea.

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Rava / Rawa Ladoo

Ingredients :

• 1 cupSuji rava 
• 1 cup Sugar
• 1/2 tsp Cardamom powder:
• 1/3 cup Ghee
• 7 - 8 Cashews (broken into bits)
• 10 - 15Raisins
• 1/3 cup Grated coconut (optional)

Method :

Take a heavy bottomed kadai. Add 2 tbsp of ghee to it. Once hot, fry the cashews and raisins till golden brown. Keep aside. Add the rava and elaichi powder. Fry till a yummy aroma arises and it turns golden brown. Do this on a low flame. Let it cool down.Once it is cool enough for the mixie, run the rava and elaichi powder in the mixie till it becomes a reasonably fine powder. Run it a couple of times if the rava is stubborn. Empty into a large basin.Now, powder the sugar. Add it to the rava in the basin.Introduce the cashews, raisins and the grated coconut into the basin.Mix very well. Heat the remaining ghee. Pour on top of this mixture. Make firm ladoos quickly. If making of the ladoos are a trouble, add a little more ghee to it. Else, sprinkle some warm milk on the mixture and try again.Serve when cool.

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