Paal Kesari / Milk Rava Kesari / Melting Kesari

Milk Kesari

Ingredients
Coarse Semolina / Rava - 1 cup
Milk - 1 and 1/2 Cups
Water - 1/2 Cup
Sugar - 2 and 1/4 cup
Ghee( melted) - 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp
Cashew nuts broken - 10 nos
Raisins / Sultans - 2 tbsp
Kesari color - few pinch

Rava Kesari

Method
1. Roast Rava until aroma rises and set aside.
2. Heat ghee in a pan, fry cashewnuts and raisins.
3. Bring water and milk to boil in a pan.
4. When milk and water mixture starts to boil add roasted rava slowly and keep stirring to avoid lumps, reduce heat and cook for 3 minutes in milk.
5. Add sugar, cardamom powder, food color, fried cashewnuts and raisins along with ghee to cooked rava.
6. Now rava kesari will loosen as the sugar starts to melt, at this point remove pan from heat.
7. Allow the paal rava kesari to warm, scoop out kesari with round ladle and place on serving plates.

Paal Rava Kesari

Soan Ladoo Recipe / Chana Dal Laddu Recipe / Kadalai Paruppu Ladoo

I have not seen anyone other than our family making this recipe. This unique recipe belongs to my grandma and passed on to our generations. This ladoo is called Soan ladoo because "Soan" in hindi meaning "golden". These ladoo represents golden balls and tastes delicious too.

Soan Ladoo Recipe

I had already posted this recipe long back in 2009 and re-posting again with best pictures
Ingredients
Bengal gram dal / Chana dal - 2 cups
Sugar - 2 cups
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Cashewnuts broken - 15 nos
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Oil - 1/4 cup
Orange / Kesari Color - few pinch

Kadalai Paruppu Ladoo

Method
1. Soak chana dal in water for 2 hours, grind soaked chana dal to slightly coarse paste.
2. Heat ghee and oil in a pan, when hot add cashewnuts fry till golden brown, drain and set aside.
3. In the same hot oil add the ground chana dal paste and 1/2 cup water, reduce heat and mix well.
4. Keep stirring and cook chana dal paste on low heat for about 15 mins until water is absorbed, raw smell leaves and chana dal mixture becomes pale yellow in color.
5. When chana mixture is well cooked add sugar, cashewnuts, cardamom powder and kesari color.
6. Now chana dal mixture will loosen as the sugar starts to melt, keep stirring until the mixture turns to thicken again like Kesari.
7. Remove pan from heat and allow to become warm.
8. When ladoo mixture is warm enough to handel with your bare hands grease your palm with ghee and start rolling lemon sized dough into ladoos.
Decorate ladoos with nuts if desired.

Chana Dal Laddu

Quick Besan Burfi with Condensed Milk

Besan Burfi with Condensed Milk

Ingredients
Besan/ Kadalai Maavu - 2 cups
Condensed Milk - 400 gms
Ghee - 8 tbsp
Cardamom powder - less than 1/4 tsp

Easy Besan Burfi

Method
1. Roast besan flour with ghee in a pan for 15 mins on low heat until raw smell leaves.
2. When besan flour is well roasted add cardamom powder and condensed milk to the pan.
3. Keep stirring until mixture thickens and forms to big mass leaving sides of pan.
4. Transfer mixture to greased plate and cut into desired shapes.
5. Allow completely to cool and enjoy.

Besan Burfi

7 Cup Burfi / Seven Cup Sweet

7 Cup Burfi

Ingredients
Kadalai mavu / Besan - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 cup (melted)
Grated coconut - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 3 cups

Seven Cup Sweet

Method
1. Grease a tray with ghee and keep it ready.
2. Roast besan slightly and allow to cool.
3. In a large bowl combine all ingredients and whisk together to get lump free mixture( will look like Dosa
    batter).
4. Pour this mixture to nonstick pan and place on medium heat. Keep stirring until mixture thickens and forms     to bubbly big mass, which will not stick to sides of pan( will take around 7 to 8 mins).
5. At this stage transfer this mixture to greased tray and level it.
6. Cut them to squares when they are warm ( as we do for any Burfi or Mysore pak) and allow to cool.

Tips
You can substitute 1 cup ghee with 1/2 cup oil and 1/2 cup ghee
Also can substitute grated coconut with grated carrot.

Seven Cup Burfi

Strawberry Muffins Recipe

How to make strawberry muffins

I had adapted this easy strawberry muffin recipe from here and made many changes to suit my taste. I love my muffins to be moist and nicely browned, the outcome was excellent.

Strawberry Muffins

Ingredients

Maida/ All purpose flour- 1 and 1/2 cups

Sugar- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp

Salt- 1/2 tsp

Baking powder- 2 tsp

Egg- 1 no

Milk- 3/4 cup

Oil- 1/4 cup

Vanilla essence- 1 tsp

Strawberry chopped- 1 cup

Moist Strawberry Muffin

Method

Preheat oven to 200° Celsius. Grease an 12 cup muffin pan or use paper cups. 

Combine oil, milk, vanilla essence and egg in a bowl and beat well with fork.

Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in large bowl and mix well.

Now add chopped strawberries to the flour and stir to coat with flour.

Reserve some chopped strawberries to top the muffins.

Pour in the milk mixture to the flour in bowl and stir together until smooth.

Fill the muffin cups. 

Bake muffins at 200° Celsius for 12 mins or until the tops bounce back from the touch. 

Cool 10 minutes and remove from pans.

Strawberry Muffin

Sending this recipe to Valentine's day recipe contest held by Priya's Versatile Recipes

Sakkarai Pongal/ Chakkara Pongal/ Sweet Pongal/ Pongal Recipes

Sakkarai Pongal

Ingredients

Raw rice-1 1/2cups

Moong dal-1/2cup

Jaggery-200gms

Cashew nuts-25gms

Green Cardamom-4 nos

Nutmeg/ Jathikkai powder-pinch

Ghee/Clarified butter-100gms

Sweet Pongal

Method

Pressure cook both dal and rice together. Dilute the jaggery in 1/2cup water and bring to boil, allow the jaggery to boil on high heat for 5 mins. Cool and strain the jaggery water and set aside. Mash well the pressure cooked rice and dal mixture, add the jaggery water to the mashed rice and mix well. In a small tadka pan heat ghee, add the nutmeg powder, cardamom and cashewnuts. When the cashewnuts turn golden brown add the cashewnuts to the prepared rice along with the ghee. Once again mix well and serve hot.

Pongal Recipes

Akkaravadisal/ Moong dal Rice Payasam

Akkaravadisal

Ingredients

Moong dal- 200 gms

Thick coconut milk- 1 cup

Thin coconut milk- 1 cup

Raw rice( coarsely powdered)- 4 tbsp

Jaggery( powdered)- 200 gms

Cardamom powder- few pinches

Akkara adisil

Method

Pressure cook moong dal and rice until mushy and mash until pasty.  When the moong dal and rice mixture is hot add the powdered jaggery, both thick and thin coconut milk and cardamom powder. Mix well until jaggery melts, garnish with fried cashewnuts and serve.

( Note you can adjust the consistency of the dessert by adding or decreasing coconut milk.)

Moong dal Payasam

Mango Custard Recipe

Mango Custard Recipe

Ingredients

Mangoes ripe- 2 no( medium sized)

Custard powder vanilla- 4 tbsp

Milk- 2 cups

Sugar- 4 heaped tbsp

Mango pieces to garnish

Mango Custard Recipe

Method 

Heat 1 and 1/2 cup milk in a pan and bring it to boil. 

In a bowl add 1/2 cup of cold milk and dissolve 4 tbsp custard powder without any lumps.

Add the custard dissolved milk mixture to the boiling milk and stir continuously until the milk thickens like cream. 

Remove custard from heat and allow to cool at room temperature.

Next wash mangoes and remove the mango skin, cut the mango flesh and discard the seed. 

Coarsely chop the mango flesh until pulpy.

In preferred glass or dessert bowl, first add the mango pulp then top with custard, again add mango pulp over custard and top with custard until it reaches rim of glass or bowl. Garnish with few mango pieces and refrigerate mango custard for atleast 4 hours and serve cold.

Mango Custard

Roti Halwa/ Double Roti Ka Halwa/ Bread Halwa

Double Roti Ka Halwa/ Roti Halwa

Ingredients

Medium bread slice packet/ Loaf of bread sliced- 1 no

Whole milk- 1 liter

Condensed milk- 1 cup

Sugar- 1 cup( add or reduce amount to taste)

Ghee- 1/4 cup

Elaichi/ Green Cardamom powder- 1/4 tsp

Fried cashewnuts- handful

Bread Halwa

Method

Toast the bread slices in oven until crunchy and lightly browned.

Powder toasted bread slices like bread crumbs in a mixer grinder or blender.

Boil milk in a sauce pan, add sugar and stir the milk till the sugar is completely dissolved. Add condensed milk and elaichi powder to the boiling milk. Stir milk well, now add powder bread, mix well so no lumps are formed and cook the bread in milk mixture on low heat. When the milk is fully absorbed by the bread and the bread mixture is semi dry, add the ghee to the bread mixture. Cook till the ghee seprates from the bread halwa and garnish with fried cashew nuts.

Note: to make the process simple you can also use powdered rusk slices or bread crumbs instead of bread loaf.

Basic Devil's Food Cake Recipe- without frosting

Devils Food Cake

Ingredients

All purpose flour- 1 and 3/4 cups

Baking powder- 2 tsp

Baking soda- 3/4 tsp

Salt- 3/4 tsp

Unsalted butter- 11 tbsp

Sugar granulated- 1 and 1/2 cups

Cadburys cocoa powder- 2/3 cup

Egg- 2 nos

Vanilla essence- 1 tsp

Warm water- 1 and 1/3 cups

Method

Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Beat butter in a bowl until creamy with help of electric beater, add sugar, cocoa powder, eggs and vanilla essence one by one to the butter, beat until well blended.

At low speed add both flour mixture and warm water one by one to the butter mixture, mix on low speed for 30 secs.

Pre heat oven at 325 F, grease 9 x 3 inch pan.

Pour prepared cake batter to the pan.

Bake cake in the center rack of the oven for 45 mins, bake until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the center of baked cake.

Cool on wired rack and cut Devils Food Cake into desired slices.

Devils Food Cake- Basic recipe

Recipe Courtesy

The Cake Book

Tish Boyle

Sourashtrian Special Loula Puri.

This is a popular Sourashtrian snack, we prepare this snack very often and my hubby( being Sourashtrian) enjoys this snack a lot. These Loula puri has crispy outside, soft and spongy inside and sure to melt in mouth

Ingredients

Maida/ All purpose flour-1 1/2cup

Sugar-1/2cup

Cardamom crushed-2

Fried Cashew nuts-15( broken into small pieces)

Baking soda-pinch

Water required

Oil to deep fry

Method

In a medium size bowl add maida, sugar, cardamom, baking soda and required water, mix well to make a smooth and thin batter of pouring consistency. Add fried cashew nuts to the batter. Heat oil in a pan to deep fry, when oil is smoking hot take a tablespoon full of batter and drop into hot oil. Depending on the size of pan you can add about maximum of 3 to 5 puris. Reduce the heat and cook the puris on both sides till golden brown and crisp.

Mirchi Ka Halwa/ Green Chilly Halwa.

This is one of my experimental recipe, i made this recipe first time for a cooking contest held several years back in Chennai. The judges had the guts to taste this recipe and i was selected as winner.

Ingredients

Green chilly-1/2 kg( scrap and remove the seeds completly)

Sugar-300 gms

Desi Ghee-200 gms

Elaichi/ Green cardamom powder-1/4tsp

Green food color-few drops

Fried Cashewnuts-20

Fried Raisins-20

Water- required

Method

Boil the green chili in water for 10 mins( this process removes the hotness of the chili), drain the green chili and grind to smooth paste in a grinder. Heat desi ghee in a pan, when ghee starts to melt add the ground green chili and fry until the raw smell of the chili completely leaves. Next add sugar and green food color to the frying green chili paste and stir constantly until the ghee separates from the chili and gathers on the sides of pan. Finally add the elaichi powder, fried cashewnuts and raisins to the green chili halwa. Serve Mirchi Ka Halwa hot or cold.

Disclaimer- This recipe has to be prepared with great care and caution, SRMK cannot be liable.

Maida Cake / Maida Burfi

Maida cake sweet

Ingredients

Maida- 1 cup

Sugar- 2 cups

Ghee- 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence - 1/2 tsp

Cashew nuts broken required

Color- little

Water- less than 1/4 cup

Method

1. Grease tray and keep ready, heat ghee in a pan, when it's hot fry cashews keep aside.

2. Next add maida to hot ghee in the pan pan and roast until nice aroma comes, remove pan from heat and place on kitchen counter.

3.Dissolve sugar with water in a pan, add essence and color, place pan on heat and boil until you get one sting consistency. 

4. Immediately pour this sugar syrup to pan which roasted maida and cashews is kept. Keep stirring the maida mixture( the pan need not be on stove it can be on kitchen counter) at first mixture will loosen, then forms to big mass which will not stick to sides of pan. 

5.Quickly transfer this to greased tray n cut into squares.

Carrot Halwa/ Gajar Halwa

Ingredients

Carrot shredded-4cups

Milk-1cup

Condensed milk-1cup

Sugar-cup

Elaichi/ Green cardamom powder-1/4tsp

Fried cashew nuts and raisins-1/4cup

Ghee-2tbsp

Method

In a deep pan add the shredded carrots and milk. Bring to boil, simmer, cover with a lid and cook for 15 mins. When the carrots is fully done add the condensed milk, sugar and elaichi powder. Stir constantly and simmer until the mixture becomes dry. Finally add ghee and fried cashew nuts and raisins. Stir well and serve hot.

Couscous Pineapple Kesari/ Couscous Pineapple Pudding

Ingredients

Couscous-1cup

Pineapple finely chopped-1cup

Sugar-1/2cup

Condensed mik-1/2cup

Fried Cashew nuts, Almonds and Raisins-1/2cup

Pineapple Essence-2drops

Yellow food color-1drop

Ghee-2tbsp

Water-2cups

Method

Heat 2 cups of water and bring to boil, when boiling add the couscous and cook until done. Once the couscous is done add the pineapple pieces, condensed milk, sugar, food color and the essence. Stir well and add the fried nuts and ghee. Serve hot.

Sarkkarai Pongal( Sweet Lentils Rice)

Ingredients

Raw rice-1 1/2cup

Moong dal-1/2cup

Jaggery-200gms

Cashew nuts-25gms

Green Cardamom-4

Nutmeg/ Jathikkai powder-pinch

Ghee/Clarified butter-100gms

Method

Pressure cook both lentils and rice together. Dilute the jaggery in 1/2cup water and bring to boil, allow the jaggery to boil on high heat for 5 mins. Cool and strain the jaggery water and set aside. Mash well the pressure cooked rice and lentils, add the jaggery water to the mashed rice and mix well. In a small tadka pan heat ghee, now add the nutmeg powder, cardamom and cashewnuts. When the cashewnuts turn golden brown add the cashewnuts to the prepared rice along with the ghee. Once again mix well and serve hot.

Home-made Rasmalai.

Rasmalai or Rasamalai is a popular Bengali dessert. It takes some time and effort to prepare but tastes great. It is a light and healthier sweet, as it is cooked by boiling method and not deep fried.

Ingredients for Flattened Paneer discs

Full cream milk-1 liter

Maida/ All purpose flour-1tsp

Ghee-1tsp

Sugar-400gms

Water-1cup

Lemon juice-1 to 2tsp

Ingredients for Flavored milk

Full cream milk-1/2 liter

Saffron strands-8

Cardamom powder-1tsp

Sugar-250gms

Roasted and Minced Almonds, Pistachios and Cashews

Method

In a large pot bring 1 liter full cream milk to boil. When boiling add lemon juice to make the milk curdle. Strain the curdled milk in a muslin cloth and squeeze well to remove the excess water. Add paneer( curdled milk) and maida to  bowl, make a loose dough combining both. Divide the dough into equal portions, grease palms with ghee. Make smooth balls and flatten into discs with palms.

In a deep pan, add 400gms of sugar and 1 cup of water. Mix well until the sugar dissolves completely, bring sugar mixture to boil. Boil for about 10 mins and bring the sugar syrup to room temperature. 

Next boil enough water in a large pot, when boiling add the prepared paneer discs. At first the paneer discs will sink in the boiling water and will raise slowly to the top when the paneer discs are cooked. Drain the paneer discs from the boiling water and add it to the sugar syrup. Allow the paneer discs to soak in sugar syrup for about 2 hours.

For making flavored milk. In a deep pan add 1/2 liter full cream milk, saffron and sugar. Mix well till the sugar is well dissolved in the milk, bring the mixture to boil until the milk slightly thickens. Add the cardamom powder and minced nuts. Bring the flavored milk to room temperature.

Now add the soaked paneer discs to flavored milk, allow the paneer discs to soak in the flavored milk for at least one hour. Refrigerate the Rasmalai and serve cold.

Sending this recipe to Radhika's "Cook for yourself" event.

Home-made Gulab Jamuns( Golden fried milk balls in flavored sugar syrup)

Milk Balls Ingredients

Unsweetened Milk Kova-200gms

All purpose flour/ Maida-1tbsp

Ghee or Oil to deep fry

Sugar Syrup Ingredients

Sugar-500gms

Water-1/2cup

For flavor-Cardamom powder or Rose essence or Saffron strings-1tsp( add any one of these flavor according to your taste)

Method

Take a bowl add the unsweetened milk kova and maida, make a loose dough combining both. Heat oil or ghee in kadai on medium heat. Divide dough into 10 to 12 portions and make smooth balls with your palms( grease your palm with ghee to avoid balls sticking). Make sure the surface of the balls are smooth and not cracked. Deep fry these milk balls until golden brown and set aside. In another deep pan add the sugar and water,  mix until the sugar is completely dissolved. Bring the sugar mixture to boil and add one of the above said flavoring ingredient. Allow the sugar mixture to boil for 10 mins. Allow the sugar syrup to cool and add the fried milk balls. Soak the milk balls in sugar syrup for atleast 2 hours. Garnish with almonds and serve.

Sending this recipe to Radhika's "Cook for yourself" event

Son Laddoo (Channa Dal Sweet Balls).

This is my granny's specialty sweet, u dont need any special occasion to prepare this, feel like having sweet get into kitchen prepare in minutes and its done. Pamper your taste buds with Son Laddoo.

Ingredients

Bengal gram( soaked in water for 1 hr)-1cup

Sugar( powdered)-1cup

Cardamom powder-1/2tsp

Saffron strands( soaked in 1tsp milk)-6

Cashewnuts( broken and roasted)-3tbsp

Ghee-2tbsp

Oil-5tbsp

Method

Grind the soaked bengal gram to coarse and thick paste. Heat kadai, add the coarsely ground bengal gram paste and oil. Fry continuously until the bengal gram paste is well cooked and the raw smell leaves. When it is done the bengal gram will become soft, dry and will not stick to hand. At this point add the sugar, cardamom, saffron, cashewnuts and ghee. Since the sugar is added now the bengal gram mixture will become soggy, do not worry stir continuously and sugar will start thickening. When the mixture thickens allow to cool. Make small balls( laddoo) out of the mixture and arrage on a plate. Son laddoo is ready to serve.  

Rava Laddoo ( Sweet Sooji Balls).

Ingredients

Rava/ Sooji/ Cream of Wheat-2cups

Sugar( powdered)-1 1/2cups

Cardamom/ Elaichi( powdered)-1tsp

Cashewnuts and Almonds( chopped or slivered)-1/4cup

Ghee/ Clarified butter-5tbsp

Milk-less than 1/4 cup

Method

Heat ghee in a small pan and roast the nuts to golden brown and set aside. Add rava into the same pan and roast till it turns light brown or until you get the aroma of rava. Put the rava on a large plate, add the powdered sugar, cardamom powder, roasted nuts and remaining ghee. Mix well with fingers. Pour milk little by little with a spoon into the rava mixture and make small balls. Place these rava ladoos on a plate, set aside for 2mins and Serve.