Sweet For This Diwali --- 1

Chhanar Payesh

Ingredients :

1/2 - 1 ltr Milk
1 Tin Condensed milk
2 tbsp Sugar
1 1/2 cups Water
2 tbsp Nuts
2 tbsp Raisins
Nimbu Pani (lime juice) - A little.

Preparation :

In a medium-sized bowl, add lime juice to some of the milk to make paneer/chhana (cottage cheese) out of it.
Pour just enough sugar in water to prepare a thin sugar syrup.
Add the hot syrup to the chhana, blending it well.
Pour milk in a deep bottomed pan and bring it to a boil.
Next, add the condensed milk and simmer for about 2 mins. Cool till just warm.
Add the milk mixture into the channa, one spoonfull at a time.
With a spoon, stir well and blend vigorously the whole mixture. Pour all of it into a bowl.
Sprinkle on top the nuts and raisins. Refrigerate for sometime and serve chilled.

 

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Shankarpali

Ingredients:
1 cup flour(sieved),
1 cup wheat flour(sieved),
1 cup milk,
1/2 cup water,
1/2 cup sugar(granulated),
3-4 tbsp rice flour,
1/2 cup butter(unsalted),
A pinch of common salt, table salt.
Oil (for deep frying).

Preparation :
Blend milk and water and keep to a side.
Mix butter and sugar and whip till light and fluffy. Add salt, rice flour and wheat flour. Blend well and add the milk-water mixture to it.
Knead the whole mixture to a soft dough and divide it into three balls of equal sizes. Flatten each ball into a thick chapati and cut out diamond shaped pieces off each chapati.
Deep fry each piece in hot oil. Alternatively, you can cut the rolled chapati with the help of a cookie cutter and fry till golden brown in colour.

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Karanji

  Ingredients :
1 cup Wheat flour
3 tablespoons Ghee
1 pinch Salt
1/2 litre Oil (for frying)
1 cup Grated coconut
3 1/4 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Milk
Few Almonds
Few Raisins
1/2 teaspoons Cardamom powder
1 tablespoon Poppy seeds

  Preparation :

In a mixing bowl combine the salt, flour and ghee. Mix and knead well. Gradually add water and knead to form a firm dough.
Cover with wet cloth and set aside. This process will help the  dough to become soft.

For the Stuffing.
Cook grated coconut (use fresh or dried), sugar, milk, chopped almonds and raisins, cardamom powder, and poppy seeds (optional) till the milk evaporates.
Divide the dough into 20-25 sections, roll them out into flat round pancakes.
Place a spoon of stuffing at the centre and fold the pancake in half.
Use a cutter to create the fluted crescent border and cut off excess dough.
Seal the edges by applying a little milk and pressing down hard.
After all the karanjis are stuffed, fry them in very hot oil for 2-3 minutes or till golden brown, remove onto paper towels and allow them to cool.
Serve after fridging them for sometime, or in room temperature.

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Gajar ka Halwa

  Ingredients :
450 grams Sugar or equilavant sweetner
1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds
3/4 cup Water
3 tablespoons Ghee
2 tablespoons Raisins
2 tablespoons Almonds
2 tablespoons Pistachios
1 kg Carrots
1 litre Milk
1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds
3/4 cup Water
3 tablespoons Ghee
2 tablespoons Raisins
2 tablespoons Almonds
2 tablespoons Pistachios
450 grams Sugar

  Preparation :
Wash and grate the carrots into fine shreads.
Soak the raisins in water for 30 minutes. Blanch and shred the nuts.
Put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the grated carrots. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
Add the milk. Cook on a low flame for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Make sure that the bottom doesn't stick to the pan.
Add sugar/sweetner, mix well and cook till it dissolves fully and all the milk is absorbed.
Add ghee and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the slightly crushed cardamoms and the raisins.
Mix well. Remove from heat and arrange in a serving dish.
Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve cold, hot or at room temperature.

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Badam Phirni

Ingredients :
12 nos. Almonds
4 tablespoons Rice flour
21/2 cups Milk
5 tablespoons Sugar/sweetener
8 strands Saffron
1 teaspoon Cardamom powder

Preparation :

Blanch and grind the almonds to a fine paste with 1/2 cup milk.
Mix together the ground almond paste and rice flour.
Bring the milk to a boil. Add the sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves.
Dissolve the saffron separately in a spoonful or two of hit milk.
Add the almond-rice mixture into the boiling milk along with the saffron-milk mixure.
Stir continuously for a few mintues till the milk thickens and attains a custard-like consistency.
Sprinkle in the cardamom powder. Stop the flame, and allow to cool.
Pour into individual bowls, garnish with almonds and pistachios and refrigerate.
Serve chilled.

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Kheer 
 
Ingredients :

1/4th cup Long grain Rice (washed and drained)
4-5 cups Milk
2-3 cardamom seeds (crushed)
2 tbsp. almonds (blanched silvered)
A pinch of saffron threads, soaked in a little hot milk
1 tbsp skinned pistachio nuts (chopped)
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
2-3tbsp. sugar or as desired

Preparation :

Put the rice, milk and cardamom in a pan, bring to boil and simmer gently until the rice is soft and the grains are starting to break up.
Add almonds, pistachio, saffron and raisins and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
Remove from heat and serve either warm or chilled.

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Rasmalai

Ingredients :

2 lbs Cows Milk or Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar or sweetner
32 oz half & half milk
A pinch of saffron
1/4 tsp crushed cardamom seeds
1/2 cup blanched almonds
2 tbsp crushed green pistachios

Preparation :

Mix the cheese with sugar and little cardamom powder and spread out on a baking tray.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until it thicken and sets down. It should not get brown.
Remove from oven, cool at room temperature and cut into small squares. Place them in a dessert bowl.
Mix the other ingredients, except the pistachios well in a separate dish and pour over the squares.
Decorate with pistachios, chill for 2-3 hours and then serve.

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Doodh Peda

Ingredients :

1/2 kg khoya. Khoya is made by reducing a large volume of milk to a solid by very slow boiling for many hours; about 3 litres of milk will produce hardly 200-300 gms of khoya.
250 gms ground sugar
250 gms milk
2 drops rose essence or a few strands saffron or kesar
2 tbsp almonds, finely slivered
2 tbsp pistachios, finely slivered
1 tsp green cardamoms or elaichi powder

Preparation :
Mix the khoya and sugar well, and warm it over a medium fire. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and stir with a heavy ladle smoothening out any lumps. Continue stirring and add more milk, little by little, till all the milk is used up. Lower the heat, if it sticks at the bottom.
Add the rose essence or saffron dissolved in milk, and take off the fire. Mix the flavouring and khoya properly.
In a plate, mix the finely slivered nuts with the cardamom or elaichi powder. Make small balls of the khoya mixture and press on the nuts for decoration. You can also make depressions along the edges with a spoon handle or other stamp moulds for surface designs.