Sweets For This Diwali --- 2

Kaju Barfi

Ingredients :

2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Water
3 1/4 cups Cashew powder
Silver foil
1/2 cup Cashewnuts

Preparation :

Pour enough sugar in water to prepare a sugar syrup of about 2 thread consistency.
Then dissolve cashew powder in the sugar syrup to make the whole solution thick.
Next, spread the thick solution on a plate. Cover it with some of the silver foil. Your barfi is ready. Let it dry and harden under the foil cover.
Then cut barfi into pieces. Sprinkle some cashewnuts atop to garnish.
Keep your Kaju barfi in the refrigerator to chill for sometime. Then serve this sweet delicacy and sweeten up the diwali evening for your near ones.   

GUJIA

  Ingredients :

Flour 250 grams
Khoya 500 grams
Raisins a few
Almonds 100 grams (finely chopped)
Cooking oil 3 tablespoon
Water 100 ml
Sugar 250 grams

  Preparation :

Mix the oil and flour properly to form a binding consistency of breadcrumbs. Add some water and knead lightly the entire mixture. Make it soft dough and set it aside with a damp cloth covering it. Fry the khoya in cooking oil till it becomes light brown and then mix the sugar in it properly. Add the almonds and raisins, and fry for a few more minutes. Remove from fire and let it cool. Make small thick chapattis out of that kneaded dough. Fill half of the chapatti with the khoya mixture and, rolling it, seal the sides of the chapatti keeping the khoya inside it. Make the sealing look decorated by giving a look of hemming. Deep-fry these gujias until it becomes light golden brown, keeping the flame at low. Take out the gujias on a newspaper and let the oil get soaked. Serve hot or store it in an airtight container for using it on that special day.

MALPUA

 Ingredients :

1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups wheat flour
4 tbsp yogurt or curd
10-15 whole peppercorns
Milk
Water

  Preparation :

Make a batter of all of these dry ingredients and the dahi, using 1/2 milk and 1/2 water till it is thick and of pouring consistency, similar to pancake or dosa batter. And whip till smooth. Add the 10 peppercorns. Keep aside and allow it to rise for about two hours.
Heat oil on a medium flame. Drop large ladlefuls into the oil to form circles of 6-8 inches. Typically the dough will sink and line the bottom of the karhai and rise up in the shape of a disc. Fry till golden. Drain and pat off the oil.
Serve with cream or garnished with pista. Serves five.

KESAR BHAT

Ingredients :

1 cup rice
1/2cup sugar
1/4 tea spoon kesar
50 gms raisins
50gms cashew nuts
1/2 cup ghee
5 pods cardemom

Preparation :

Wash and cook rice in four cups water. Add ghee and sugar and continue cooking on low flame. Stir continuously. powder cardamom and add to the rice.. Keep cooking till the rice mixture leaves the sides of the vessel. Grind kesar with a kittle eater and add to rice. Finally add raisins and chopped cashew nuts and mix well.

JALEBI
 
Ingredients :
2 cups All purpose flour (maida)
11/2 tbsp. fine grained semolina or rice flour
1/4th tsp. baking powder
2 tbsp curd (plain yogurt)
11/4th cups warm water
1/2 tsp. saffron threads, slowly dry-roasted and powdered
3 cups sugar
2 2/3rd cups water
1/2 tsp green cardamom seeds powder
11/2 tbsp. kewra water or rose water
Ghee or vegetable oil for frying

Preparation :

Mix the flour, semolina or rice flour, baking powder, curd and 3/4th cup of the water in a bowl (preferably a ceramic bowl). Mix well with a whisk.
Mix well and then add remaining water and 1/8th tsp. of saffron powder, and whisk until smooth.
Set aside for about 2 hours to ferment.
Whisk thoroughly before use.
Prepare one string syrup by dissolving sugar in the water. Just before the syrup is ready add saffron and cardamom powder.
Heat oil in a kadhai. Pour the batter in a steady stream ( or coconut shell with a hole) into the kadhai to form coils. Make a few at a time.
Deep fry them until they are golden and crisp all over but not brown.
Remove from the kadhai and drain on kitchen paper and immerse in the syrup.
Leave for at least 4-5 minutes so that they soak the syrup.
Take them out of syrup and serve hot.

MOTI CHUR LADDU

Ingredients :

2 cups besan
1 & 1/2 cup sugar
10 pods cardamom
1/2 cup raisins
Ghee or oil for deep frying

Preparation :

Mix besan with 1 & 1/2 cup water to make a smooth batter free from lumps. Powdercardemom and kee aside. Fry raisins in a little ghee and keep ready. Make sugar syrup with sugar and 1cup water. Keepig the syrup tilll the consistency reaches a long string stage.

GULAB JAMUN 
 
Ingredients :

1 cup Carnation Milk Powder
1/2 cup Bisquick - Pancake mix (Instead of Bisquick Pancake mix, use 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp baking soda)
2 tablespoons butter -melted
Whole milk just enough to make the dough
2 cups Sugar
1 cup water
Oil for frying

Preparation :

Make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick, butter. Add just enough whole milk to make a medium-hard dough. Divide the dough into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate. Cover with a damp yet dry kitchen towel.
Heat the oil on high and then lower the heat to medium. Slip in the balls into the hot oil from the side of the pan, one by one. They will sink to the bottom of the pan, but do not try to move them. Instead, gently shake the pan to keep the balls from browning on just one side. After about 5 mins, the balls will rise to the surface. The Gulab Jamuns should rise slowly to the top if the temperature is just right. Now they must be gently and constantly agitated to ensure even browning on all sides.
If the temperature of the oil is too high then the gulab jamuns will tend to break. So adjust the temperature to ensure that the gulab jamuns do not break or cook too quickly.
The balls must be fried very slowly under medium temperatures. This will ensure complete cooking from inside and even browning.
The syrup should be made earlier and kept warm. To make the hot sugar syrup add mix the 2 cups of sugar to 1 cup of water. Add 4-5 cardamom pods, slightly crushed and a few strands of "Kesar". Mix with a spoon and then heat at medium heat for 5-10 minutes until sugar is all dissolved in water. Do not overheat, that will caramelize the sugar.
Transfer this hot syrup into a Corning serving dish. Keep warm on stove. Add the fried gulab jamuns directly into the warm syrup. Leave gulab jamuns in syrup overnight for best results. They can be served warm or at room temperature.


Rasgulla - Small sweet balls

Ingredients

1) Doodh(milk) - 750 ml.
2) Cheeni(sugar) - 1 cup.
3) Maida(Flour) - 1 tbsp.
4) Paani/Jal(Water) - 1 cup.
5) Elaichi(cardamom) - A pinch.
6) Nimbu Pani(lime juice) - A little.

Instructions:

1) Add lime juice to the milk to make paneer/chhana out of it.
2) Add flour and cardamom to the chhana. Then knead the mixture with hands to make it smooth and pliable.
3) Split the the dough into several small portions of equal quantity. Then, roll them into same-sized balls.
4) Mix 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water and boil at a low temperature to make a thin syrup.
5) Drop the balls in the clean boiling syrup. Boil for 10 mins. Sprinkle water on the boiling syrup every 2 minutes.
6) Remove from the heat and cool. Your "Rasgulla" is ready. Sprinkle rosewater for flavor.
8) Keep your snow-white sweetmeats in a refrigerator. Serve hot or cold, depending on your preference.


Besan Ka Ladoo - Gram flour Balls

Ingredients :

1) Ghee(Clarified butter) - 225 gms.
2) Besan (Gram flour) - 225 gms.
3) Castor sugar (or table sugar) - 350 gms.
4) Cashew nuts - 1 tsp, chopped.
5) Badam (almonds) - 1 tsp, chopped.
6) Pesta badam (Pistachio) - 1 tsp.

Instructions:

1) Take a medium-sized frying pan.
2) Place over it the ghee and besan and heat over oven at a low temperature, stirring the mixture now and then to avoid the formation of lumps. When cooked, the mixture will release a sweet aroma.
4) Remove the pan from the oven. Let it cool.
5) Add the sugar and chopped cashewnuts to the besan mixture. Stir in thoroughly.
6) Now mould out of the mixture small balls of appropriate size. Your "Besan Ka Ladoo"(or Sweet Gram Flour Ball") is ready. Serve hot or cold.