Mohanthal ( Besan Fudge )

          After making payasam I had some leftover condensed milk in the fridge and I wanted to try out something new with it. For quite some time now, I had wanted to try out a sweet using besan flour and condensed milk, then I saw this recipe here for Mohanthal. I had all the ingredients in hand, so just went ahead and made it today, the entire dish took about 30 minutes to cook and a little extra time to cool and slice the burfis. The sweet turned out really good, it had a fudgy texture unlike our Mysore Pak but it's much easier to make..

Need To Have

• Besan Flour - 1 cup
• Condensed Milk - 1/2 cup
• Ghee - 5 tablespoons
• Milk - 2 tablespoons
• Pistachios - 6, chopped
• Almonds - 3, chopped

Method

          Mix the besan flour and milk with hand to get a crumbly mixture. Heat the ghee, add the besan flour and saute it well till you get a nice aroma and the besan changes color, takes about 10 to 15 minutes.

          Now add the condensed milk and keep stirring till the mixture becomes thick and it becomes a little tough to mix.

          Spread it out in a greased ( with ghee ) tray, smooth it out with a spatula, then spread the pistachio and almond pieces and press it a little. Let it cool, then slice out with a sharp, greased knife.

Note
Don't skimp on the ghee, and also roast the besan well till the raw smell goes away.
Also you can add some saffron along with condensed milk, I forgot to add, but still the flavor from the ghee was good.

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Badam Halwa, Almond Fudge

          Badam Halwa, this is one of the first sweets, or should I say the first sweet that I had tried out after my marriage, but of course, the first time, it was a total disaster. That doesn't mean that this is a difficult dish, it's just that, I was new to cooking, didn't have a proper kadai/pan. I was trying to make the halwa in a wok, it started sticking to the pan and at the same time, it was splattering all over, finally I lost my patience and dumped everything into the sink. Well, I have come a long way from there, at least, I can say confidently that I know the basics and a little more in cooking. Coming back to the halwa, it's an easy dish, needs the basic ingredients for any Indian sweet along with the almonds and a little patience, but it's worth all of it and tastes absolutely delicious..

Need To Have

• Almonds - 1/2 cup
• Sugar - 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Saffron - 2 pinches
• Green Cardamom - 3
• Ghee - 1/4 cup
• Orange Color - a small pinch, just enough to give a light peach color

Method

          Soak the almonds in hot water for about 1/2 hour or more, at the end of which you should be able to peel the skin. Grind it along with the milk and 2 tablespoons water into a paste ( fine sooji/semolina consistency).

          Take the sugar along with 1/2 cup water in a non stick or heavy bottomed pan and heat it. When the sugar starts melting, keep stirring for another minute, then add the ground paste, reduce the heat and mix it well without any lumps.

          Add the saffron and color, mix it and keep cooking on medium low heat, keep stirring so that it doesn't stick to the pan. When it becomes a little thick, add the cardamom ( remove the inner pods and powder) and start adding the ghee, about 2 to 3 teaspoons at a time till everything comes together and the halwa is not sticking to the pan. Remove and serve it warm.

Note
Though I have used only 1/2 cup almonds, since it's a rich dish, you can serve it at least for 5 to 6 people.
Remove the halwa, when it's still in a semi solid state ( jam consistency ), it thickens when it cools. If you cook it further, then it'll go to the burfi consistency.

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Date And Cocoa Truffles - Guest Post

           Who doesn't like a sweet or dessert that doesn't need any cooking and at the same time, healthy too, well when I saw these cocoa and date truffles here, I simply wanted to try it out right away. They just need a couple of ingredients, some good quality dates and cocoa powder, no added sugar, the sweetness from the dates is more than enough. Mix them both and roll it in more cocoa powder or as I did, with some chocolate vermicelli..

          This is a guest post for Usha who blogs at Mahaslovelyhome, she is a very sincere blogger and a very straightforward person, thanks Usha for letting me share a post in your lovely space. Check out here for the complete post with stepwise pictures..

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Sigappu Aval Payasam, Red Poha ( Rice Flakes ) Kheer

          Happy Tamil New Year ! usually at home, on this day, apart from a special puja and going to the temple, the afternoon lunch is a traditional one with rice, sambar, curries along with vadai and payasam. As we're in Bangalore now, it's not a holiday today, both my husband and daughter are not at home for lunch, so I just made some Aval Payasam/Kheer. I have used organic red aval, since that's the only one that I buy now and I have used jaggery and coconut milk. I can say, this is the most easiest of all payasams/kheers, a little time for soaking the rice flakes/poha and extracting the coconut milk and hardly 10 minutes of cooking. I thought, I'll keep it ghee-free, so instead of the usual ghee-roasted cashews and raisins for garnishing, I have used some chopped dates..

Need To Have

• Red Rice Flakes/Sigappu Aval - 1/2 cup ( thin variety )
• Jaggery - 1/2 cup
• Coconut Milk - 3/4 cup
• Green Cardamom - 4
• Chopped Dates - 1 - 2 tablespoon for garnishing

Method

          Heat the jaggery with 1/2 cup of water, once it is melted, strain and keep.

          Wash and soak the aval/poha in just enough water to cover the flakes for 15 to 20 minutes. I have used fresh coconut milk, just used 1/2 cup ( packed ) grated coconut, blended it with first 1/4 cup of warm water, squeezed out the milk, then again blended it with another 1/2 cup of warm water, squeezed out the milk one more time, strained the milk and used. Once the rice flakes are soaked for 15 minutes, cook it along with the jaggery syrup for 5 minutes.

          Then add the coconut milk and cardamom ( remove the inner pods, powder and use ) and let it come to a slow boil, then switch it off. Serve it garnished with the dates.

Note
I had actually used 3/4 cup jaggery, but since I felt it a little too sweet, also since I garnished the payasam with dates, I felt that 1/2 cup would have been more than enough.
I have avoided ghee and nuts, you can roast some cashews in a little ghee and add to the payasam.
Depending on your preference, make the payasam thick or thin, if you want it really thick, then cook the aval and jaggery, a little longer, but don't cook too much after adding the coconut milk, the coconut milk might start to give out oil or sometimes curdle too, you can use thick coconut milk, reduce the water used to extract the milk.
The color of the payasam was not very attractive, might be because of the red poha/aval or also because of the jaggery color, I have used organic jaggery powder.

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Carrot Halwa, Gajar Halwa

          Though I had made a resolution to do at least three posts in a week, something or other comes up and I am not able to keep it, I'll try to be more regular from now on wards ( hopefully ). Coming to today's post, Carrot Halwa, this is an easy and delicious dessert, we have to keep just one thing in mind, the final dish should not smell 'carrots'. I just can't have it, if it has the vegetable smell at the end, the texture should also be soft. We can use regular carrots for making the halwa, but since the red ones are now in season, I have used them, it gives a beautiful color to the halwa. The method is very simple, needs just a few basic ingredients, sugar, some milk, cardamon and a little ghee for flavor. We can serve it both hot or at room temperature, I prefer it warm, served as such or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the side..

Need To Have

• Carrots - 2 big ones
• Milk - 3/4 cup
• Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Ghee - 2 tablespoons
• Cardamom - 2

Method

          Grate the carrots in a fine grater, it came up to 11/2 cups.

          Heat 1 tablespoon of ghee, add the grated carrots and saute it on low heat for about 5 to 7 minutes.

          Add the milk, cover and cook on reduced heat till all the milk is absorbed and the carrots are cooked completely. Then add the sugar and mix.

          Cook on reduced heat, the sugar will give out some moisture, cook till most of the moisture is gone and the consistency is like a thin jam or pudding. At this stage, add the remaining one tablespoon ghee and cardamom powder ( take the inner pods and powder it in a mortar and pestle ). Mix it for a minute and remove, serve it warm or cold.

Note
Once the halwa cools, it becomes thicker, so remove the halwa from the heat when the halwa is slightly loose.
I don't add nuts or raisins, but you can add some cashews and raisins, toasted in ghee.
Do the cooking on low heat, that way the carrots get cooked well and the raw smell also goes away.
Can be refrigerated, just warm it up a little and serve.
You'll get 3 to 4 small servings from the above measurements.
If the carrots are very sweet, can reduce the sugar by a tablespoon or 2.

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Blueberry And Cream Cheese Muffins

          I can't believe, it's now 3 years since I started this blog, I just did it like that, though I was a regular visitor to many blogs, I never thought that I would start a blog some day. Now, this blog has become a part of my life, I am trying to be as regular as possible, in posting, visiting other blogs and also trying to present the dishes as best as I could. The comments and encouragement from my fellow bloggers and friends is my inspiration which drives me to keep doing this, I should thank you all for that. I would have loved to share a delicious multi-layered cake today, but I am a little lazy when it comes to frosting and cake decoration, so at least I thought, I shall do something sweet for today. These Blueberry And Cream Cheese Muffins are absolutely delicious, at the same time are very easy to make too and they are eggless and butterless, can have them for breakfast or as an evening snack along with your tea or coffee..

Need To Have

• All Purpose Flour/Maida - 3/4 cup + 2tablespoons
• Dried Blueberries - 3/4 cup
• Cream Cheese - 4 tablespoons
• Oil - 3 tablespoons
• Yogurt/Curd - 1/4 cup
• Milk - 1/4 cup
• Sugar - 1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons
• Lemon Zest - from 1 lemon
• Lemon Juice - 1 tablespoon
• Vanilla Extract - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Powder - 1 teaspoon
• Baking Soda - 1/2 teaspoon
• Salt - a small pinch

Recipe adapted from here.

Method

          Take the cream cheese and oil and beat it well, to it add the sugar, salt, yogurt, milk, vanilla extract, lemon zest and lemon juice and beat everything together into a smooth mixture.

          Sieve together the flour, baking powder and baking soda and mix it ( reserving a little to mix with the blueberries) with the wet ingredients and finally gently mix in the blueberries.

          Spoon it into muffin pans and bake it at 190 C for 25 minutes and remove.

Note
I have used muffin liners and greased the liners as well, the muffins didn't stick at all.
Since I have lined the muffin pan with liners, I think I had enough batter for 7 muffins, since I was using a 6 cup muffin pan, I just added the extra batter equally among the six muffins, so the muffins sort of like overflowed, I think I can use just 3/4 cup flour next time.
I can't get fresh or frozen blueberries here, so I used dried ones, since the dried blueberries have some sugar in it, the sugar that I have added is enough, but if using fresh blueberries, can increase the sugar by 2 to 3 tablespoons.
Oven timings vary, so keep an eye.

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Diwali Delights

     

          With Diwali around the corner, thought I'll post some sweets and savory recipes that are made during the festival. Only while compiling the recipes ( the collection is not that big  ), I found that I don't have that many savory dishes like murukkus and mixtures in my blog and I made a decision that, I should make more of these and other traditional Indian sweets at least by next Diwali, till then enjoy these..

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Thengai Burfi, Coconut Burfi

          Thengai Burfi/Coconut Burfi, this is the second sweet I made after the Rava Ladoo. I had thought that I would be making a couple more, but then, now since my kitchen renovation is going on, I might not be able to do. But, still I am having my microwave, if time permits, I am thinking of doing something, using the microwave. Coming to today's sweet, this is another easy one that anyone can make and it requires just 3 ingredients. Coconut and sugar, can anything go wrong with this combination, the only thing that we have to be careful is not cooking them together too long, then the burfis might turn into coconut and sugar crumbles, other than that, this is a simple, yet delicious sweet that can be done in no time..

Need To Have

• Grated Coconut - 1 cup
• Granulated Sugar - 3/4 cup
• Green Cardamom/Elaichi - 2
• Ghee for grasing the tray

Method

          Grate the coconut and be careful not to have the brown parts of the coconut, so don't grate till the very end and grease a square tray with ghee and keep. Heat the coconut and sugar in a heavy bottomed pan, and keep mixing. The sugar will start melting, keep mixing and keep the heat on medium.

          After a couple of minutes, the mixture starts thickening, at that stage add the cardamom powder ( take the inner black pods and powder ) and mix. Once the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan and comes together, remove and put it on the greased tray and spread it immediately using a spatula, you can make the top surface smooth, by placing a butter paper or parchment paper or aluminium foil and pressing it with the back of the spatula. After 2 minutes, cut them into pieces as shown, once it cools a little more, we can remove the pieces.

Note
Make sure that you remove the mixture from the stove, when there is still some moisture in the mixture, otherwise it'll start forming crumbles. If this happens, add little water and mix one more time  on the stove and then make the burfis.
The last step of spreading the mixture should be done fast, so keep the greased tray ready.  
Do the entire cooking on medium heat.
We can do this sweet with dessicated coconut too, but fresh coconut always tastes best.

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