Fruit Sandesh

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM


Ingredients:

1 cup paneer (grated)
5 tsp sugar
2 tsp milk powder,
1 tbsp low fat milk
1/4 cup chopped fresh fruits (oranges, strawberries etc)
1/3 of cup of fresh orange juice
1/4 tsp cornflour
2-3 drops lemon juice


Method:

- Take the paneer, sugar, milk powder and milk in a bowl, and mix it well to form a thick batter.
- Spread this mixture evenly in a serving dish and chill for atleast 35 minutes to make sandesh.
- In another bowl take some orange juice, cornflour and sugar and add the lemon juice to it.
- Heat it till the sugar dissolves completely.
- Garnish the sandesh with chopped fruits and serve chilled.

Apple Rabdi

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM


Ingredients:

3 cups milk
2 medium apples (grated)
A pinch of nutmeg powder
2 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Few drops of lemon juice
1 cup cold water


Method:

- Take a large bowl of cold water, put in a few drops of lemon juice and add the apple to it.
- The apple will not turn brown even if kept out in the open for a long time.
- Now bring the milk to a boil and simmer it for 10-15 minutes on low flame. Remove the grated apple from the water and rinse it under running water.
- Add the grated apple, nutmeg powder and cardamom powder and simmer for another five to seven minutes.
- Now add the sugar and mix well.
- Serve chilled.

Lichur (Litchi) Payesh

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

2 kg litchi
3 ltr milk (full cream)
200 gms sugar
150 gms khoya (grated)
15 gms small cardamom powder

Method:

- Boil the milk on low heat, stirring continously.
- Boil till the quantity is reduced to half.
- Add khoya to the boiling milk. Stir well.
- Once the milk has thickened considerably add sugar and mix well. Take it off the gas.
- De-seed the litchi and keep aside.
- Cool the thickened milk, stirring it continously.
- Add the deseeded litchi and mix with a spoon.
- Add cardamom powder and keep it to chill in the refrigerator.

Rasmalai

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

250 gms fresh paneer
6 cups water
2 1/2 cups sugar
1 ltr milk
1/2 tsp elaichi powder

Thinly sliced pista and badam
A pinch of kesar

Method:

- Start by dissolving 1 1/2 cups of sugar in boiling water.
- Take another vessel and put the milk to boil.
- Then, add one cup sugar to the mixture.
- Next crumble the paneer and make palm sized patties and gently drop into the boiling sugared water, you can lightly

cover it to cook faster.
- This is done to cook the paneer. You will know it is ready when the texture is sponge like and it bounces back when you press and leave it.
- It should take around 15 minutes to cook on medium flame.
- While the paneer is being cooked, keep an eye on the boiled milk and after it thickens to half the size of the original amount, add the elaichi powder, saffron and the sliced badam and pistato make the ras.
- Now remove the paneer patties, drain the water and drop it into the milk mixture.
- Continue cooking for about five minutes, then remove it from the gas and cool it to room temperature.
- Serve the rasmalai chilled.

Recipe by sector 17, Vashi based ACO sweets.

Shrikhand

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

1/2 kg curd
300 gms sugar
1/2 tsp cardamom powder and nutmeg powder
A pinch of saffron threads
1/2 tbsp pista and almond crushed

Method:

- Tie curd in a clean muslin cloth for six to seven hours overnight.
- Put into a bowl and add sugar and mix it well. Keep aside for 25-30 minutes to allow sugar to dissolve.
- Rub saffron into one tbsp milk till well broken and dissolved. Keep aside.
- Beat well till sugar has fully dissolved into curd.
- Pass through a big holed strong strainer, pressing with hand or spatula.
- Mix in cardamom and nutmeg powder.
- Chill for one to two hours before serving.
- Empty into a glass serving bowl, top with remaining nut crush.
- Chill for 1-2 hours before serving.

Saeb Aur Suji Ka Halwa

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

1/2 cup semolina (suji/rawa)
1 large apple, thinkly sliced
2 large apples pureed
1 cup milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon green cardamom powder
5-6 pistachios blanched and silvered a generous pinch of saffron

Method:

- Dry roast semolina in a medium shallow pan taking care that it does not get coloured.
- Boil milk with one cup of water in a medium shallow pan.
- Add sugar, green cardamom powder and half of the saffron to it.
- Slowly add the semolina and cook, stirring till it becomes semi-dry.
- Add pureed apples, cover with a lid and cook for two to three minutes.
- Transfer into a serving bowl. Garnish with apple slices, pistachios and saffron.

Ratalu Halwa

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

A popular soft and sweet prasad with emphasis on vitamins and is light and easy to digest.

Ingredients:

6 cups raw grated sweet potatoes ( ratalu)
3 cups sugar
2 tbsp ghee
Few dry fruits
3-4 green cardamoms

Method:

- Take ghee in a pan and add the grated ratalu. cook for 5 minutes on medium flame, stirring constantly to avoid sticking
- Add sugar and cook for 10 minutes till all water evaporates and colour changes to green.
- Add dry fruits and elaichi for flavouring.

Chikku Halwa

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

Chikku - 1/2 dozen
Milk 1 ltr
Sugar 4-5 tsp
Mawa 2-3 tbsp (khoya)
Cardamom powder 1 tsp
Almonds and pistachios cut lengthwise 4-5

Method:

- Peel the skin of the chikkus and de-seed them.
- Then make a soft paste of the chikkus.
- Boil milk and make it thick like mawa. If required, you can add mawa or khoya to get a nice thickness.
- Take a thick bottomed pan. Add chikku paste along with the thick milk and stir another 2 mins.
- As soon as you get a thick consistency, like halwa, put the gas off.
- Let it cool down, then decorate the halwa with almond and pistachios.

Thandai Souffle

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

5 gms agar agar (china grass)
2 1/2 cups milk
6 tbsp sugar
200 gms cream
1 recipe thandai paste ( see below)

For the Thandai Paste:

6 almonds
2 tsp fennel seeds (saunf)
3 to 4 peppercorns
1 tsp poppy seeds (khus khus)
A pinch cardamom powder
A few strands of saffron
1 tbsp rose water

For Garnish:

1/4 cup dried nuts, sliced

Method:

For Thandai Paste:

- Soak the almonds, fennel seeds, peppercorns and poppy seeds in warm water for two hours.
- Blanch the almonds and drain the water.
- Dissolve the saffron in a little warm milk.
- Mix all the ingredients and grind to a fine paste mixing rose water. Keep aside.

How to Proceed:

- Dissolve the agar agar in half a cup of water and bring to a boil.
- Boil the milk with the sugar.
- Strain the agar agar mixture and add to the milk.
- Add the thandai paste and cool to room temperature.
- Meanwhile whisk the cream till soft peaks form and fold into the mixture.
- Pour into serving glasses and refrigerate for four to six hours till the souffle sets.
- Serve chilled garnished with chopped nuts.

Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time 10 minutes
Serves 4

Tea Flavored Jelly

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

2 cups water
1 pkt unflavored gelatin
4 tbsp sugar
Green tea sachet

Method:

- Take one cup of boiling water, add sugar and then a spoonful of (or a sachet) of green tea. - Open gelatin packet, pour and quickly stir in.
- Add a cup cold water to get the right consistency.
- Then pour into jelly moulds or small muffin moulds and refrigerate for at least three hours.

- Serve as dessert or top your mawa cake or oatmeal muffins with it.

Chocolate Fudge

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

Condensed milk - 400 gms
Brown sugar - 180 gms
Butter - 100 gms
Dark chocolate - 200 gms

Method:

- Combine sugar, butter and condensed milk in a heavy bottom pan and heat till the butter melts and sugar dissolves to form a homogenous mixture.
- Add chopped dark chocolate to the above mixture and stir, allowing the choclate to melt.
- Pour the above mixture in a parchment paper-lined tin and let cool for 2-3 hours
- Cut into desired pieces and serve.

Tiramisu

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups saltless low fat cream cheese
250 gms fatless chocolate sponge cake
2 inch fingers
2 teaspoon gelatin
4 teaspoon instant coffee powder ( substitute of tia maria)
2 tbsp tia maria ( coffee flavoured liquor)
2 cups low fat cream
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp cocoa powder for sprinkling

Method:

- Heat one fourth cup of water, add gelatin and take it off the heat. Set aside till gelatin dissolves.
- Dissolve instant coffee powder in one cup of water. Add one tablespoon of tia maria and mix.
- Dip the sponge cake fingers in this mixture completely and set aside on a wire rack so that the excess moisture drips off.
- Take low fat cheese cream, low fat cream, powdered sugar and the remaining tia maria in a bowl and cream lightly.
- Add gelatin and mix.
- Take a nine inch spring bottom cake tin. Pour some cream mixture at the base.
- Arrange the sponge cake fingers over this.
- Pour the remaining cream mixture over the cake layer and smoothen the top.
- Set in the refrigerator for six hours. Just before serving dredge cocoa powder on top and serve immediately.

Apple Crumble

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

1 kg apples - peeled, cored and sliced (use apples that are firm and slightly tart)
25 gms sugar or to taste
1 tsp cinnamon powder
1/4 tsp ground cloves
2 tbsp water

For the Topping:

200 gms plain flour (maida)
100 gms cold butter

80 - 100 gms brown sugar

Method:

- To make the crumble topping, sift the flour into a bowl and add the cold butter cut into chunks.
- Using 2 knives cut the butter into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs. ( alternatively you can pulse the flour and butter in a food processor).
- Mix in the brown sugar with a fork.Put the apples, sugar, cinnamon and clove powders into a saucepan with 2 spoons of water.
- Cook on a gentle heat until the apples have softened but still hold their shape.
- Put the apples and any liquid remaining in the pan into a heatproof dish.
- Sprinkle on the crumble topping and level it off with a fork.
- Do not press down on it at all.
- Cook in a 180 c oven for 45 minutes to 1 hr or until the crumble topping is a light biscuit colour.
- Serve hot or cold with ice cream or custard.

Parsee Pav Makhan Nu Pudding

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

Ingredients:

2 ltr whole milk
150 to 200 gms sugar
8 eggs
5-6 slices bread
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
12-15 almonds (sliced)
1 heaped tbsp dates
1 tbsp charoli or pistachios
1 1/2 tbsp mixed dry fruits chopped
1 1/2 tbsp rose water
1/2 tsp nutmeg powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

- Bring the milk to a boil and then reduce the flame.
- Let it simmer gently for an hour and a half Keep the sides clean using a wet brush or rubber spatula.
- With a wooden spatula, scrape the bottom to prevent milk from burning.
- Beat egg and sugar together until light and foamy.
- Cool the reduced milk slightly.
- Pour milk gradually into the eggs mix, whisking all the time and for a minute after.
- Strain the mixture if needed.
- Add rose water, vanilla essence, cardamom and nutmeg powders.
- Apply butter to a baking dish with a brush.
- Sprinkle sugar liberally to coat the entire dish well.
- Butter both sides of the bread slices and arrange at the bottom of the dish, trimming edges to fit.
- Sprinkle a layer of dates and dry fruits.
- Place remaining bread over it and pour the egg milk mix.
- Let it rest for an hour.
- Sprinkle sliced almonds and charoli / pistachios on top and bake in a moderately heated oven.
- When the top turns golden and crisp, turn off the oven but let the pudding sit on the grill. 

- Poke a knife and if it comes our clean, the pudding is done.
- Served warm or cold with fresh cream.

Kashmiri Khubani Ka meetha

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

From the land of dried fruits and nuts comes an unusual rendition of the hyderabadi dessert, which is typically made by kashmiri hindus as sweet offering for diwali

Ingredients:

100 gms khoya
10 gms cardamom powder
200 gms sugar ( made into a syrup)
150 gms orange apricots
Ghee to fry

Method:

- Knead the khoya into a smooth dough.
- Divide it into small rounds. Deep fry as for gulab jamuns and immerse it into a syrup made from the sugar.
- Poach the apricots in the same sugar syrup and chill the two together.
- Serve chilled with a sprinkling of cardamom powder.

Tousali

BISMILLAH HIR RAHMAN NIR RAHEEM

My first recipe from the newspaper cuttings... Yay!!! 

During my growing up years whenever dad used to take us at our native that is in Karnataka we usually would get such things like tousalli ( and other stuffs which I am unable to remember their names ) for breakfast. Here in Mumbai we are used to have rotis in breakfast. Having tousalli would never appease me and that's the reason I never liked it.. However I was fascinated by one of its ingredient - 'cucumber'. Its the different variety that is used to make this dish. And don't know why I have always liked that variety of cucumber. Later in the years when I started learning to cook I made this dish ( a long long time ago ) - Recipe courtesy from Archana didi who is our neighbour and from Karnataka too. ( I forgot that recipe now ;) 

Once I saw this recipe in the newspapers and immediately cut it and saved not knowing whether I'll ever make it or not. However my mamma likes tousali and I prepared it this time... Although this recipe calls for cooking on low flame on a tawa but I preferred to steam cook it. And I must say it turned out really well and now I am a fan of it too..

Ingredients:

Coconut grated - 1 cup

Raw rice - 1 cup

Jaggery finely grated - 1/2 cup

Cucumber grated - 3/4 cup

Melted ghee - 4 tbsp

Salt - 1 tsp

Oil for cooking

Method:

- Soak the rice for atleast four hours in luke warm water. 

- Drain and wash thoroughly. 

- Then grind to a smooth paste along with the coconut, jaggery and 1/4 cup water. 

- Add cucumber and salt to this paste and mix well. Keep aside for a few hours. 

- Heat a non stick pan and grease it lightly with ghee. 

- Pour a spoonful of the batter on the hot tawa and spread it like a thick dosa. 

- Cover with a lid and cook only one side over a slow flame until the base turns golden brown in color. 

- Remove the tousali and serve hot with ghee.

Note:  The above recipe is from the newspapers. However instead of raw rice I used rice flour ( I was too lazy to soak the rice and later grind it). I feel that we can also use idli rawa. Keeping rest of the ingredients same, I simply mixed all the ingredients and left it for 4 hours and then steam cooked it... No grinding nothing... The taste of grated coconut and cucumber that comes in each bite is simply amazing.