Carrot Halwa

Simple yet delectable carrot halwa!

A week ago, my sister visited me and so was I in cooking spree :) After a very long time, we had fun cooking together. Carrot Halwa is one of the many favorite desserts that our Paati (grandmother) makes. We had some serious craving for a bowl of warm carrot halwa on a late sunday afternoon. Without giving a second thought, we proceeded to the kitchen and began to shred the carrots. The secret of my Paati's carrot halwa lies in the slow cooking of the halwa until the milk turns into khoya. Some people like it rich and creamy but I like it crumbly and simple. 

Carrots are my go-to vegetable as they are so versatile. So I always have them stocked up in my fridge. I had used them to make various desserts like Carrot Phirni and Carrot Kheer.  The lovely color from carrot gives richness to the sweet at the same time the flavor being subtle. If you do have guests in short notice, you now know how to please them with a homemade dessert that is not a typical 'Payasam'.

You will need:
1/2 Kg Carrots
1.5 Cups of full fat milk
0.5 Cup Sugar
2 tbsp ghee
4 Cardamom Pods

* Optional: If desired,roasted nuts and raisins can be mixed in once the halwa is prepared.

Procedure:

Wash and peel the skin off the carrots.

Grate the carrots using coarse grating blades.

Heat 2 tbsp of ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel and saute the grated carrots for couple of minutes.

Pour in the milk and sugar. Slow cook till the milk gets absorbed.

Finely crush the cardamom seeds and add to the halwa.

Keep stirring till you see no liquid remaining. Serve warm.

Rasgulla/Rosgulla and a celebration!

Two fantastic months passed away in a flashing speed..Blogging was not that happening as I was busy getting married :) :)
I wish...I hope....I pray...that I would never give anymore excuses from now on to be away from blogging this long :P You see, I got a reason to cook everyday now.. a wonderful husband to taste test my kitchen creations :D

A sweet recipe to share the sweet news--Rasgulla!

Rasgullas are one of the easiest sweet dishes to make. Trust me on this. Simple ingredients and its fun to make.

Preparation time: 1hour
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Makes : 20 large Rasgullas


You will need:
1/2 gallon/ 2 liters full fat milk
1/3 Cup of lemon juice
2 Cups of Sugar
4 Cups of Water
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 pods of Cardamom, crushed
2 tsp rose water (optional)

In heavy bottom vessel (I used pressure cooker), bring the milk to a boil.

Reduce the heat and add the lemon juice and stir gently as the milk curdles. Turn off the heat and let it cool for few minutes. In the mean time, prepare a strainer lined with muslin/thin cotton cloth.

Pour the curdled milk on the cloth and gently gather the ends of the cloth and tie them loosely.

Hang this cloth with cheese (chenna) to strain the whey over a vessel. You could slide this on a spoon and place it over a tall vessel. (see picture for the setup)

After 15 minutes or so, the cheese will be cooled down and you can gently squeeze out the excess whey from the cheese.

Collect the cheese on a mixing bowl and knead for 5-7 minutes with baking powder to get a smooth dough. This ensures the rasgullas from breaking apart while cooking. Keep it covered with a moist cloth.

In a pressure cooker or any wide bottomed vessel, bring the sugar and water to a roaring boil. Add the cardamom.

While the mixture is boiling, start shaping rasgullas. I used a spoon to measure up the dough to get even sized rasgullas. Make nearly 20 rasgullas. The balls should be smooth without any cracks. Keep the shaped rasgullas and dough covered with the moist cloth while working.

Add the rasgullas in batches, when the sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is boiling. There should be room for the rasgullas to puff up. Cover it and cook till the rasgullas become double in size. Or cook it for one whistle.

To check if the rasgullas are perfectly cooked, drop one rasgullas in a cold water. If it floats it needs to cook more.

Transfer the rasgullas with the syrup in a serving bowl and stir in the rose syrup. It can be served warm or chilled.

Walnut (Akhrot) Halwa

Diwali is here!  I believe the houses are lavishly filled with sweet delicacies and are impressively lit up with decorative lights. Living in the hostel, had me separated from my beloved cooking and blogging. I am home now to celebrate the festival with this delightful sweet recipe!

‘Akhrot’, meaning Walnut is a wrinkled, brain-like nut that is contained in a very hard shell. For this Diwali, I chose to deal with this ‘Nut’ and make him sweet  :P Most of you know about the impressive benefits of this super nut . It contains the omega 3 and antioxidants that is good for your brain. 

So when life gives you 'SO MUCH' of walnuts , then try this recipe :)

You will need:

2 Cups of Walnuts, de-shelled and chopped

1 Cup of Milk, Warm

2 Cups of Brown Sugar

0.5 Cup of Ghee (clarified butter)

A pinch of salt

3 Cardamom pods, Powdered

Procedure:

Soak the walnuts in the warm milk for a couple of hours

Then grind the soaked nuts with the milk in a blender to a smooth paste

Heat quarter cup of ghee in a heavy bottom vessel. Add the blended walnut mixture.

Stir in the brown sugar and mix thoroughly without forming lumps. Add the remaining ghee a spoon at a time while stirring. This will keep the halwa from sticking to the vessel.

In a low flame, keep stirring the mixture for about 20 minutes or until the mixture comes together as a solid mass. Turn off the heat.

Sprinkle the cardamom powder and mix well.  

My Tip: You can add 'Praline' ,  caramelized nut nuggets to this mixture in the end and make it an extraordinary Halwa :D

Wish you all a very prosperous and joyous Diwali!

Carrot Phirni and my Click-Spring/Autmun entry..

We love carrots.We make sure that there is always a batch of carrots lying inside the fridge.I love experimenting with carrots.Carrot phirni is a frequenter in our home.I add carrots for the lovely hue and flavor it renders to the phirni...Carrot phirni is my sistor's favourite dessert..This rich and creamy carrot phirni is sure to win your hearts too..So give it a try..

Today,I couldn't take the step-by-step pictures..the kitchen was like complete mess :( 

I'm sorry about that friends..But I'm so desperate to share this yummy dessert recipe with you all...So here it comes..

You will need :

2 Table spoon basmati rice,soaked in water for half an hour

1/4 Kg of carrots,peeled and boiled 

1/2 litre of milk

1/2 cup of Sugar

A pinch of saffron

chopped cashew nuts,fried in ghee

chopped pistachios

1/8 tsp of Cardamom powder

Soak the saffron in warm milk.

Drain the soaked rice and with very little water grind the rice and the boiled carrots together to a smooth paste.

Bring the milk to boil.Add the rice-carrot paste and sugar.Keep stirring.

Simmer and cook for 6-8 mins or until the phirni gets thickned.

Add the saffron milk,cardamom powder and cashews.Mix well.

Pour them in a tiny earthern pots(if you could get these) and sprinkle some pistachios.Place a silver or gold warq(optional)..Serve chilled!

I 'm sending this off to Sanghi's FIL-Carrot event.This phirni is dedicated to my loving sistor who is very fond of this dessert.

Also sending this to Srivalli's Mithai Mela event..

Madhuram's Mango Halwa - I made this very very yummy Mango Halwa in microwave..I used the pulp of 'Senthuram' Mangoes,for their nice orange color.The halwa turned out so well..It was like the Naturo's Mango jelly that we get in India..I'm sure I will make this quite often..Thanks ,Madhuram!

Bunches of Carrots

The above pic is  my entry to Jugalbandi's CLICK-Spring/Autumn event.I think this is quite appropriate for this month's theme...I clicked these carrots from a vendor's cart.

Dum ki Biryani & Kaddu ki Kheer!

Dum ki Biryani and Kaddu ki Kheer(Bottle gourd pudding) are two famous dishes of Awadhi cuisine.I'm sending these two royal dishes to RCI-Lucknow event hosted by Lavi of Home Cook Recipes which is originally started by Lakshmi.Its so kind of her to extend the deadline untill April 6th.I adapted the Dum Biryani recipe of Chef Sudipto Battacharya,Radisson Hotel at ndtv cooks.I made some changes to suit my palate.This is my first attempt in making these two dishes and I'm happy with the result.

I thought of making a mughlai curry to go with the Biryani but due to lack of time I settled with simple cucumber raita.

These brass and bell metal bowls  are some of the treasures I inherited from my grandmas.

Okay before I start blabbering about my obsession for metal wares lets begin cooking!

Kaddu Ki Kheer 

You will need :

2 cups grated bottlegourd

1/2 litre milk

1 cup Sugar

1/2 cup Khoya

1 tbsp chopped pistachios

2 tbsp chopped Cashews nuts

few almond slices

1 Tbsp raisins

A pinch of saffron

1/2 tsp Caradamom powder

1 tbsp ghee

In a heavy bottom vessel bring the milk to boil.simmer for 10 mins to thicken the milk.

In the mean time,peel the bottle gourd,remove seeds and grate them.

Squeeze out any excess water.

Add the grated bottle gourd and sugar to the milk.Let it cook for 5-8 mins.

Parallely in a small kadai heat ghee and fry the nuts and raisins.

Mix the Khoya and dissolve them in the boiling kheer.

Add the caradamom powder ,saffron and fried nuts and raisins.Stir well and turn off the heat.Serve hot or cold!

Dum Ki Biryani

You will need:

For the rice :

2 cups Basmati rice

2 cups water

2 green cardadmoms

1 stick of cinnamon

2 bay leaves

1 tsbp rose water

1 tsp ghee

Salt

For the Vegetables :

2 cups vegetables (I used chopped potatoes,cauliflower florets,carrot,beans and onion)

4 tbsp oil

5 tsp garlic n ginger paste

2 green caradamom

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1/2 cup curd

1 tsp chilli powder

1/4 tsp turmeric powder

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup fresh cream

1/4 tsp nutmeg powder

A pinch of fennel seed powder

salt

For Garnish:

1 Tbsp thinnly sliced ginger

2 green chillies,slit

1/2 cup mint leaves

1/4 cup coriander leaves

1 cup thinnly sliced onions

Oil for frying the onions

5 almonds

10 cashew nuts

1 tsp saffron

4 tbsp milk,lukewarm

2 tbsp ghee

Wash the bastmati rice once and soak them in enough water.Soak saffron in milk.

Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the vegetables for 10 mins.

When the vegetables are frying,mix all the rest of the ingredients under the 'For the vegetables'  section.After 10 mins,add the fried vegetables to this curd/spice mixture.Mix well and set aside.

Drain the water completely from the soaking rice.In a deep pan,bring 2 cups of water to boil and add all the spices ,salt and ghee given under 'For the rice' section.

Add the drained rice and simmer and cook covered till done.

Heat 2 tbsp oil and fry the marinating mixture for 5-7 mins.

When its frying ,slice 1 big onion..Heat 5 tbsp oil and then add the onions..

Fry them till they become brown and crisp.

In the same oil fry the cashew nuts in low flame.

In a large oven proof bowl,layer a portion of  fried vegetable mixture and then a layer of cooked rice.Do this step until you get finished up with all the vegetable mixture and rice.Gently mix them only once.

Top it with coriander,mint,green chillies,fried cahsews and onions(reserve some for garnishing at the end),almonds,and the soaking saffron along with milk.Drizzle 2 tbsp ghee .

Cover this using a aluminium foil and cook in 250 C preheated oven for 25 mins.

Or cover them with a plate and seal the air gaps using chapati dough.

If you don't have oven,place a tawa over flame and when it got heated up,place the sealed bowl over the tawa and cook in low flame for 30 mins.

Note:Traditionally,Dum cooking involves imparting smoky flavour to the dish.If you like this flavor ,you can do it by placing a small piece of  live charcoal in the center cored onion or betel nut leaf.Place this  over the biryani and keep it covered for 10 mins.

Once removed from oven,open the biryani bowl and give a gentle stir .

Transfer in a serving dish,garnish with the reserved browned onions,cashews and coriander leaves.

I'm also sending the following dishes from my archived posts to RCI - Lucknow event,

Navratna Korma

Shahi Tukre

Malai Kofta 

This week I tried Malar's Green plantain fry.Its very different from the usual plantain fry we make at home.I liked the spicy,tangy taste in it.Thank you ,Malar for the wonderful reicpe :)

Y'day I made the lemon bread featured at Cham's Spice-club.The bread is a super hit ,Cham.Thanks for  posting it in your blog.The bread came out so perfect and my cousins were not believing that I made it :(  I had to swear them that they aren't the store-bought ones.Its so yummy-scrummy!

I used pistachio's instead of walnuts.

And also ,I tried the basic white bread from Nags Edible garden.This is my second successful attmept in baking bread.It came out so well like yours.Thanks for the step-by-step tutorial,Nags :)

Have a happy weekend!