Bread Gulab jamun

Ingredients:

6 milk/sweet bread slices

1/2 cup milk

1/2 tsp cardamom powder

3/4 cup sugar

1 cup water

Oil/Ghee to fry

Method:

Dip the bread slices in milk and squeeze it out completely. You can either cut out the corners of the bread or let it remain. Knead it into a dough and make balls of it. Add milk if required to make the dough. I opted for the less fat version by frying it in the paniyaram pan with few drops of oil. If you are not calorie conscious you can deep fry the balls in oil/ghee.

                        Heat the sugar and water to a sticky consistency. Add cardamom powder to the syrup and soak the bread balls in it for about 1/2 hr. Serve

                         

Butter Badushah

Ingredients:

1.5 cups of all purpose flour

1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature

2 tbsp beaten curd

1 tsp sugar

1.5 tbsp oil

1/2 tsp cooking soda

1/2 cup sugar

Cardamom powder for flavour

3/4 cup water

Bit of lemon juice

Water as required

Oil to fry

Method:

Mix the butter, oil, sugar, curd and soda well. Slowly add in the flour and keep mixing it well. Finally add water as required to get a soft dough. Keep aside for 10 minutes and prepare the sugar syrup by that time.

Heat the sugar and water to get a single string consistency. Add in the lemon juice and cardamom powder and keep aside. Make small balls of the dough and flatten them slightly. To make the corners decorative, have a look at the videos at Sharmis blog or Raks kitchen. 

Heat oil in medium flame. Put a small piece of the flour to check the heat. If it pops up immediately, put in a few pieces of the badushah and switch off the stove. Dont disturb it and let it cook in the oil. When the bubbles settle down, switch on the stove again and cook on medium flame till golden brown. Drain excess oil in a tissue paper and dip in the sugar syrup. Let it stay soaked for 2-3 minutes and then transfer to a greased plate. Repeat for rest of the dough.

Although it takes a reasonable time to prepare these, the end results are just fantastic. Garnish with cardamom powder or saffron strands.

Carrot poli

Ingredients:




4 carrots-peeled and boiled
3 tsp sugar (adjust as per taste)
1 tsp cardamom powder
1 cup maida/all purpose flour
Pinch of salt
2 tsp oil
Ghee



Method:

Make a dough of maida, salt and water. Add the oil and mix well to the dough. Keep aside covered with wet cloth for 1/2 hour.

Grind the carrots along with sugar without adding water. Now heat 1 tsp ghee and add this carrot paste and cook well till it gets thick and forms a big lump. Add cardamom powder and keep aside till it cools down. Make small balls of it.
Make balls of the maida dough and pat it to small and thick rounds using little oil. Use a greased plastic sheet for this. Keep the carrot balls in the cente

Beetroot Halwa

Ingredients:



2 big beetroots (grated)
5 tbsp sugar
Some roasted nuts
2 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder.



Method:

Heat the ghee and add grated beetroot to it. Keep stirring until the beetroot gets cooked by itself without adding any water.

When beet gets cooked in about 10 to 15 minutes time, add the roasted nuts,cardamom powder and sugar. Mix well till the sugar melts and you get the halwa kind of consistency.

Tasty beetroot halwa ready to eat.

Mysurpak

Ingredients:


1 cup chickpea/gram flour (besan)
1 1/2 cups of sugar
3/4 cup water
1 1/2 cups of ghee
1/2 cup oil.



Method:

Heat about 2 tbsp of ghee and add the flour to it. Roast till you get nice aroma of it and it is in the stages of changing colour.

Boil sugar and water in a thick bottom vessel to get one string consistency. Add 5 tsp of ghee to it and slowly add the roasted flour to it. Keep stirring it well and adding ghee in between. Ensure that there are no lumps in the mixture. When it starts frothing and leaving the sides of the vessel, transfer it to a greased plate and leave for a few minutes. Cut into pieces.

Coconut- milk powder burfi

Ingredients:

1 cup finely grated coconut

1/2 cup milk powder

1 cup sugar

1 tsp cardamom powder

2 tbsp ghee.

Method:

Mix coconut and milk powder together. Make a sugar syrup with little water to get sticky consistency. Add the coconut milk powder mixture and cardamom powder. Also add ghee and keep stirring well till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the vessel.

Transfer to a greased plate and cut into desired pieces when a little cool.

Maida Burfi/ Cake

Ingredients:

1 cup maida (all purpose flour)
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup ghee
2 drops of rose essence.

Method:

Mix little ghee with maida and fry for 2 to 3 minutes. Make a sugar syrup with little water to one thread consistency.

Add the maida and remaining ghee to it and mix well till it starts leaving the sides of the vessel. Add the rose essence and mix well.

Transfer to a greased tray and cut into required size.

Moong Dal Halwa

Ingredients:


1 cup moong dal
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup ghee
Finely chopped nuts



Method:

Soak the dal in sufficient water for atleast two hours. Make a fine paste of it with very less water.

Cook the moong dal paste with ghee till a nice smell comes. Keep stirring it else it will stick to the vessel. In another pan melt the sugar with the water and add the cooked moong dal. Mix well and cook till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan. Add nuts and mix well.