Sweets
Kesar Rasgulla / Saffron Cottage Cheese Balls In Sugar Syrup
Kesar Rasgulla / Saffron Cottage Cheese Balls In Sugar Syrup is a saffron flavored rasgulla made by making balls from chenna (cottage cheese) and soaking it in the saffron flavored sugar syrup. It is a popular sweet from Eastern parts of India and is famous world wide. It is gluten free and can be enjoyed while fasting /Upwaas/ Vraat. It is enjoyed during festivals such as Janmashthami, Navratri, Diwali or Holi.
Making Rasgulla was on my list for quiet a long time. I have shared with you all the recipe of Paneer Rasgulla Kaju Masala
In the above recipe I have added paneer rasgulla (The paneer ball is boiled in plain water and not sugar syrup) to the curry and served. The dish was enjoyed by my son and my husband to the fullest.
Since then I wanted to make rasgulla for dessert. Finally I made it and am happy to share the recipe with you all. You can make them for all the upcoming festivals.
I found making rasgulla at home easy then I thought. It is good to use cow’s milk to make rasgulla. But here at Sydney it is difficult to find cow’s milk and hence I have used the low fat milk. The process of rasgulla is divided into three stages:
- Boiling and curdling milk to make chenna (paneer/cottage cheese).
- Kneading the chenna to a soft dough and making balls from it.
- Making sugar syrup and boiling the prepared balls in it.
Boil the milk at low heat and once it is boiled add lemon juice to it and stir till the milk curdles nicely and greenish whey and milk solids are separated.
Drain the milk solids on the cloth placing it in a strainer. Then wash the strained milk solids with fresh water to remove sourness of lemon. This step is important to prevent chenna from getting sour taste.
Squeeze out excess water from the chenna and let it rest for 30 minutes in the strainer placed in the bowl to remove excess water.
After 30 minutes, the excess water would be removed. Take the chenna in a plate and knead it nicely with your hands till it becomes soft. Break down all the crumbs of milk solid and knead it to a smooth dough. Knead the chenna for 7-8 minutes. At this stage for this recipe you can add a pinch of saffron food colour or tsp of saffron strands and knead the chenna to get light yellow color. I have not added the food color here.
Make small balls from the kneaded chenna. When you make balls make sure there are no cracks in them or they will burst while boiling. Many people prefer to add some semolina or plain flour or arrowroot powder while kneading the chenna. I personally do not prefer adding any flour to the chenna.
So then these rasgulla are gluten free and also they can be enjoyed while fasting or upwaas or vraat.
I always used raw sugar at my home and hence have used it to make the sugar syrup. This will give dark colour to the syrup. But at my home everyone are ok with this. You can use regular sugar.
While cooking the rasgulla in the sugar syrup, make sure they do not overcrowd the vessel otherwise they will collide with each other and break while cooking. I have hence cooked them in batches and then at the last mixed all the cooked rasgulla together in the vessel.
You can see how spongy the rasgulla are and after soaking nicely in the syrup they have gained nice bright saffron colour.
Friends I hope you enjoyed the recipe of making the rasgulla and do try them at your home and share with me your feedback.
Till then khao dilse, khilao dilse aur banoa dilse…
Kesar Rasgulla / Saffron Cottage Cheese Balls In Sugar Syrup
Kesar Rasgulla / Saffron Cottage Cheese Balls In Sugar Syrup is a saffron flavored rasgulla made by making balls from chenna (cottage cheese) and soaking it in the saffron flavored sugar syrup. It is a popular sweet from Eastern parts of India and is famous world wide. It is gluten free and can be enjoyed while fasting /Upwaas/ Vraat. It is enjoyed during festivals such as Janmashthami, Navratri, Diwali or Holi.
Servings: 30 rasgulla
Calories: 139kcal
Ingredients
Making Chenna
- 3 l milk I have used regular low fat milk
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
For Sugar Syrup
- 2.5 l water
- 3 cup sugar I have used raw sugar. (You can use the regular sugar)
- 1 tsp saffron strands kesar
- 2 tsp rose water optional
- 5 cardamom whole cardamom pods
Instructions
Making Chenna
- Put milk to boil on low heat in a heavy bottom pan stirring in between.
- Once the milk starts boiling, add lemon juice and mix well. Keep the heat low.
- The milk will start to curdle. Keep on stirring the mixture till the entire milk is curdled well and greenish whey is separated.
- Put cloth in a strainer. Pour the curdled milk mixture. Drain the water. This water is known as whey and is very nutritious. You can use it to knead chapati dough or making dal or soup. The solid mixture is known as chenna, fresh paneer or cottage cheese.
- Pour fresh water over the strained chenna to remove the sourness of lemon. Bring the edges of the cloth together and squeeze excess water. Now keep the squeezed chenna along with the cloth chenna on the tap for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, the excess water from the chenna would be removed and it will come together like a ball. Remove in a flat plate.
- Knead the chenna like dough till it becomes soft and all the coarse grains of the chenna are smoothen. Knead for almost 7-8 minutes. (Many people prefer adding semolina or plain flour at this stage while kneading the chenna). (Here you can also add few drops of saffron color or few strands of saffron to get yellow colour).
- The chenna will become smooth and come together like a dough.
- Take small portion from the chenna dough and smoothen it between palms and roll into ball. There should be no crack in the ball. Make all the remaining balls similarly and cover with a wet cloth and keep aside till sugar syrup is ready.
Sugar Syrup
- In a big pan add water, sugar, saffron and cardamom pods. Mix well.
- Bring the mixture to boil stirring in between. Boil the mixture for 10 minutes. The sugar syrup is ready. Add rose water and mix well.
Boiling Chenna balls in sugar syrup
- Add the prepared chenna./paneer /cottage cheese balls in the boiling syrup one by one.
- Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- The balls will double in size.
- The rasgulla are ready. Keep them in the syrup and cool completely. They are ready to serve or refrigerate.
- Since I have made big quantity of rasgulla, I have boiled them in batches in sugar syrup. I have removed the rasgulla in a plate after they were boiled
- I have cooked the other remaining rasgulla as above and after the other batch of rasgulla got cooked, I added the rasgulla that were kept aside and mixed well. The entire batch of rasgulla are ready. I have kept them aside till they come to room temperature and then refrigerate them before serving.
- The rasgulla is so spongy.
- Remove the rasgulla in a bowl and pour the prepare sugar syrup over it. Sprinkle some saffron strands and serve. (Once the rasgulla are cooled, they will get nice saffron color on them)
- This picture is taken in yellow light.
Nutrition
Calories: 139kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 47mg | Potassium: 137mg | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Vitamin C: 0.7mg | Calcium: 117mg | Iron: 0.1mg
Milk Peda / Doodh Peda
Milk Peda / Doodh Peda is a very easy traditional Indian dessert made by evaporating full cream milk till all the water from milk is evaporated and only the solid cream like mixture (khoya) is left. Sugar and flavors are added to the mixture and cooked further till all the moisture is evaporated. It is then shaped into smooth ball, flattened and garnished with pistachio and served. The peda can be flavored with saffron, dry nuts, chocolate, coconut or vanilla as per your choice. It is a gluten free dessert and can be consumed during upwaas/fasting/vraat.
Peda is a popular Indian sweet made from mawa or khoya and sugar. It is semi soft, like fudge. It is made in many festivals and offered as “prasadam”. Peda is a part of any celebration like people will disttibute peda if they buy a new vehicle, if a son/daughter is born in the family, if a person passes out the top exams, if a person gets a good job, etc. There are many variations of peda such as elaichi peda, kesar peda, chocolate peda. Peda are popular as per the region they are made in, such as, Dharwad peda from Karnataka, Mathura peda from Mathura, Rajkoti peda.
The base of many Indian sweets is Khoya. Khoya is a mixture formed after evaporating the milk. To make peda, sugar and flavors (cardamom/ saffron/ rosewater) is added to the khoya and it is kneaded well. The more you knead, the softer are the peda made.
I am sharing with you the recipe of making peda by evaporating the milk at home. It needs no prior preparation and uses minimum ingredients. The evaporating of milk needs patience and is time consuming. But the outcome is soft, and smooth peda.
Few points to make good peda:
- Always use a thick heavy bottom pan vessel or a nonstick pan.
- Use full fat milk only. Boil the milk on low heat first and once it starts boiling put the heat to medium and keep on boiling and reducing the milk.
- Always stir the milk to avoid sticking at the bottom of the pan. Also the layer of cream will be formed so scrap it from the edges and mix it with the boiling milk.
- Once the water from the milk is evaporated and khoya is made, knead the khoya well to make soft peda.
Friends this is very easy recipe. Start by making in small batches. Though time consuming but is very delicious.
Milk Peda / Doodh Peda
Milk Peda / Doodh Peda is a very easy traditional Indian dessert made by evaporating full cream milk till all the water from milk is evaporated and only the solid cream like mixture (khoya) is left. Sugar and flavors are added to the mixture and cooked further till all the moisture is evaporated. It is then shaped into smooth ball, flattened and garnished with pistachio and served. The peda can be flavored with saffron, dry nuts, chocolate, coconut or vanilla as per your choice. It is a gluten free dessert and can be consumed during upwaas/fasting/vraat.
Servings: 7 peda
Calories: 102kcal
Ingredients
- 1 l full fat milk
- 1 tbsp sugar or more for more sweetness. (I have used raw sugar)
- 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tsp ghee for greasing palm
- 3 pistachio blanched, skin peeled and thinly sliced
Instructions
- Put full fat milk in a heavy bottom pan or a non stick pan to heat on low heat stirring in between.
- Once the milk starts to boil, put the heat to medium and boil the milk. Keep on stirring continuously to prevent it from sticking at the bottom of the pan. It will take around 7-8 minutes.
- The layer of cream will form on the top of the milk. Stir it and also scrap the sides of the vessel to remove the cream and mix it with boiling milk.
- Further after 10-12 minutes, the milk will be reduced to half.
- Keep on cooking further on medium heat and stirring continuously till maximum water from milk is evaporated and it forms like a paste.
- Now the thickened creamy paste is formed.
- Add sugar to the mixture. Mix well . The sugar will dissolve and make the mixture runny. Cook further till all the moisture is evaporated.
- The moisture is evaporated and creamy grainy texture of the milk is left. This is known as khoya. Switch off the heat. (You can remove this khoya, cool it and it can be used to make different variation of sweets and savory dishes.) Add cardamom powder or any other flavors such as saffron, vanilla, rosewater.
- Let the mixture cool. Knead the mixture with your hands to smoothen it. Grease the palms of your hands and take small portion of the mixture and roll it into a smooth ball. Gently flatten the ball by pressing between the palms. ( you can shape the peda with and design them by pressing the peda mould, or fork or toothpick). Garnish the peda with blanced pistachio slices.
- Serve the milk peda. The milk peda can be refrigerated for a week in an airtight container and can be enjoyed.
Nutrition
Calories: 102kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 16mg | Sodium: 61mg | Potassium: 188mg | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 230IU | Calcium: 161mg
Tricolor Burfi With Milk Powder / Three Layer Burfi
Tricolor Burfi With Milk Powder / Three Layer Burfi is a very quick Indian Sweet made from milk powder, nuts and flavored with saffron, rosewater and cardamom. It is a three layer sweet made with three natural color and three flavors. The top saffron layer is made with cashew nut and gets flavor and color from saffron, middle white layer is made with coconut and flavored with rose water and the third green layer is made with pistachio and pepitas and is flavored with cardamom. A dish perfect to celebrate any occasion.
It is glutenfree and can be enjoyed when fasting (upwaas/ vraat).
I have made this dish to celebrate two festival falling on the same day – Independence day and Rakshabandhan.
Wishing you all a very Happy Independence Day! and Happy Rakshabandhan to all my dear brothers!!
Tricolor symbolises our tricolor flag and burfi is a traditional sweet to celebrate the festival of rakshabandhan.
The Indian flag has three colour – saffron , white and green. So have made this three layer burfi with three colour similar to our national flag. I have used all the natural ingredients to give colour and flavor to the dish.
I request you all to try making this easy recipe for your family and friends and serve them healthy and artificial ingredient free.
Few points will make it easy to make the burfi at home:
- Use a non stick pan.
- Keep on stirring the mixture continuously after milk powder is added as milk powder is very sensitive to heat and will stick at the bottom of the pan quickly.
- Keep heat on low when mixing all the ingredients and then put the heat on medium and stir continuously till the mixture leaves the pan.
- Try use butter paper to set the mixture or grease the tray or tin with ghee.
- Let the mixture set for more time before cutting into pieces. You can also refrigerate if in hurry. The more time the mixture gets to set, the burfi will cut more easily with sharp edges. (I had to show the pieces cut in video and hence I have refrigerated for 15 minutes and then cut into pieces.
- Use sharp knife to cut the burfi once set.
Friends I hope you enjoyed watching the video of making tri color burfi and please like and share the recipe.
Vande Mataram!!
Happy Rakshabandhan!!
Till then khao dilse, khilao dilse and banao dilse..
Tricolor Burfi With Milk Powder / Three Layer Burfi
Tricolor Burfi With Milk Powder / Three Layer Burfi is a very quick Indian Sweet made from milk powder, nuts and flavored with saffron, rosewater and cardamom. It is a three layer sweet made with three natural color and three flavors. The top saffron layer is made with cashew nut and gets flavor and color from saffron, middle white layer is made with coconut and flavored with rose water and the third green layer is made with pistachio and pepitas and is flavored with cardamom. A dish perfect to celebrate any occasion.
Servings: 25 pieces
Calories: 139kcal
Ingredients
Top saffron color layer
- 1 tbsp ghee clarified butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup milk powder
- 1 tbsp milk for dissolving saffron
- 1 tsp saffron strands
- 1/4 cup cashew nut powder
- 1/4 cup sugar I have used raw sugar. You can use regular sugar instead.
Middle white layer
- 1 tbsp ghee clarified butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup milk powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup desiccated coconut
- 1 tsp rose water or vanilla essence or cardamom powder
Bottom green layer
- 1 tbsp ghee clarified butter
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 cup milk powder
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup pistachio and pepita powder you can use entire pistachio or pepita
- 1 tsp cardamom powder
Instructions
Bottom green layer
- Heat ghee in a nonstick pan. When ghee is melted add milk. Mix well. Keep the heat low.
- Add milk powder in batches and mix well to avoid the lumps from forming. Press well while mixing the milk powder so if any lumps are formed they will be pressed well and mixed well.
- Add sugar and mix well.
- Add pistachio and pepita powder and mix well.
- Add cardamom powder and mix well.
- Now put heat to medium and stir the mixture till it leaves the sides of the pan and forms a big lump together. It will take around 4-5 minutes. Stir the mixture continuously to avoid it getting stick at the bottom of the pan.
- Once the mixture comes together, switch off the heat and transfer the mixture to a greased plate or a tin lined with butter paper and spread the mixture uniformly as per the thickness needed.
- Keep the mixture aside to set. And make other layers.
Middle white layer
- In the same pan, heat ghee on low heat. Add milk to it and mix well.
- Gradually add milk powder into batches and mix well stirring continuously to avoid formation of lumps.
- Add desiccated coconut and sugar. Mix well.
- Add rose water and mix well.
- Now put the mixture on medium heat and stir continuously till it leaves the edges of the pan and forms a big lump.
- Switch off the pan and transfer the white layer on the top of the green layer. Spread uniformly the mixture. Let the mixture set and start making the third layer.
Top Saffron Layer
- Add ghee on low heat in the same pan. Add milk to it and mix well.
- Now add milk powder gradually to the mixture and stir continuously to avoid lumps.
- Add sugar and mix well.
- Add cashew nut powder and saffron infused milk. Mix well.
- Mix well
- Put the heat to medium and stir the mixture continuously till it starts to leave the edges of pan and forms a big lump.
- Switch off the flame and transfer the mixture on the top the white layer and spread it evenly.
- Now all the three layers are spread nicely. Keep it aside to set. You can refrigerate for 30 minutes if in hurry. (the burfi will cut nicely the longer it is set. I have refrigerated for 15 minutes and cut into pieces).
- With a sharp knife cut the burfi into your desired shape and size. Serve. The burfi can be stored for couple of days at room temperature in cold weather and can be refrigerated for a week.
- Wishing all a very happy independence day and happy rakshabandhan to my dear brothers.
Nutrition
Calories: 139kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 61mg | Potassium: 239mg | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Vitamin C: 1.4mg | Calcium: 151mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Basundi
Basundi is a rich, creamy and thickened milk made by boiling full cream milk with sugar till it is reduced to half. It is flavored with cardamom, saffron, nutmeg and nuts. It can be enjoyed warm or chilled. It is a traditional and popular sweet dish made in the western parts of India like Gujarat and Maharashtra and is relished during festivals such as Janmashtami, Navratri, Bhai Bhij, Diwali or Holi. It is gluten free and can be eaten during fasting. Basundi is served with poori (puffed deep fried roti), undhiyu , bhajia, rice and dal.
Today is my Father-in-law’s (Chetan Shah) birthday. He lives in Bharuch, Gujarat, India. He has a sweet tooth and basundi is his favorite sweet. He needs no occasion to eat basundi. He will tell my mother in law (Geeta Shah) : “Geeta, aaje basundi banavi deje”. My mother in law will follow his instructions and make basundi for him. I am in Sydney and am presenting him Basundi as a virtual treat on his birthday!
Wishing you a very happy birthday papa!! Have a wonderful day and keep on showering your blessings, love and support on us. Thank you for everything!!
I am sharing with you a step by step video of making basundi.
I remember when we had big family get together during festivals, my mother in law would get up early in the morning and would start making basundi by boiling milk in a big thick bottom pot. She did not want to get interrupted and wanted to make it first before making other dishes. Also many people in the family like to eat chilled basundi for lunch and hence if the basundi is ready in advance, it gets time to get chilled in the refrigerator.
Besides the traditional basundi, we get different varieties of basundi in the sweet shops, such as sitafal (custard apple) basundi, strawberry basundi, narangi (orange) basundi, mango basundi and khajur anjeer (dates and fig) basundi.
To make these different variations of basundi, boil the milk to half the quantity with sugar and then chill the milk completely. Once the milk is chilled add the puree and chopped pieces of different fruits such as custard apple, strawberry, orange, mango, dates and figs and mix well and serve the respective basundi chilled. The fruits are citrus and hence it is good to add them when the milk is chilled to avoid curdling of the milk. Also consume the fruit based basundi immediately.
Few points to be noted while making basundi:
- Always use a heavy bottom pan
- Add little water at the bottom of the pan to prevent milk from sticking at the bottom.
- Use full fat milk
- Bring the milk to boil on low heat first while stirring in between. This will not give a burnt smell to the milk as full fat milk tends to stick to the bottom quickly when boiled on high heat. Then boil it on high heat till it reduces to half. Keep in stirring milk continuously and scrape the cream which is formed and sticks to the sides of the vessel.
- Use flat spatula to stir the milk instead of a laddle or spoon.
- The basundi tends to thicken on cooling and so if you want to eat it chilled, boil it a bit less.
- The sugar level can be adjusted as per your preference.
I hope you all enjoyed the video of making basundi. Please like, share and subcribe my channel.
Khao dilse, khilao dilse, aur banao dilse!!
Happy cooking!!
Basundi
Basundi is a rich, creamy and thickened milk made by boiling full cream milk with sugar till it is reduced to half. It is flavored with cardamom, saffron, nutmeg and nuts. It can be enjoyed warm or chilled. It is a traditional and popular sweet dish made in the western parts of India like Gujarat and Maharashtra and is relished during festivals such as Janmashtami, Navratri, Bhai Bhij, Diwali or Holi. It is gluten free and can be eaten during fasting. Basundi is served with poori (puffed deep fried roti), undhiyu , bhajia, rice and dal.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 223kcal
Ingredients
- 1 l full fat milk
- 1/4 cup sugar I have not entirely used 1/4 cup of sugar. The sweetness level can however be adjusted as per taste
- 8 almond blanched, peeled and sliced
- 6 pistachio blanched, peeled and sliced
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg powder powder
- 1 tsp cardamom powder elaichi powder
- 1 tsp saffron kesar
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Keep a thick bottom pan on heat. Add little water at the bottom of the pan to prevent milk to stick at the bottom of the pan.
- Add milk to the pan.
- Low the heat and bring milk to boil. Stir in between
- It will take around 7-8 minutes to milk to boil. You can keep the heat on medium if you are near the vessel and continuously stirring the milk.
- Once the milk has started boiling, reduce the heat and add some of the chopped almonds and pistachio and saffron.
- Grate the nutmeg in the milk or add nutmeg powder.
- Mix well and continuously heat the milk on high heat till it is reduced to half.
- The layer of cream will form on the top of the milk. Stir it and also scrap the sides of the vessel to remove the cream and mix it with boiling milk.
- After 8-10 minutes the colour of saffron will nicely infuse in the milk and the milk will be reduced.
- Add sugar to the reduced milk and stir till the sugar is dissolved.
- Add cardamom powder to it and mix well.
- The milk is reduced to half and is nice thick and creamy. The basundi is ready. The basundi tends to thicken on cooling and so if you want to eat it chilled, boil it a bit less.
- Serve it in a bowl and garnish with remaining almonds , pistachio and saffron.
- Enjoy the basundi warm or chilled. In Gujarat and Maharashtra basundi is served with poori (puffed deep fried roti).
Nutrition
Calories: 223kcal | Carbohydrates: 25g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Cholesterol: 25mg | Sodium: 108mg | Potassium: 359mg | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 405IU | Calcium: 288mg | Iron: 0.3mg
Eggless Vanilla Plum Jam Cupcake
Eggless Vanilla Plum Jam Cupcake is a soft and delicious eggless cupcake made with custard powder and plum jam. Plum jam is but in the batter and is spread on the top of the batter while baking the cake. The cake looks beautiful with the nice colour of plum jam over it. Enjoy them warm or cold with coffee, tea or warm milk. Serve them as a breakfast or dessert or you can pack them in kids lunch boxes.
The color of the plum jam will may discolour sometime after 3-4 days. But they will still taste equally good.
Eggless Vanilla Plum Jam Cupcake
Eggless Vanilla Plum Jam Cupcake is a soft and delicious eggless cupcake made with custard powder and plum jam. Plum jam is but in the batter and is spread on the top of the batter while baking the cake. The cake looks beautiful with the nice colour of plum jam over it. Enjoy them warm or cold with coffee, tea or warm milk. Serve them as a breakfast or dessert or you can pack them in kids lunch boxes.
Servings: 15 cupcake
Calories: 187kcal
Ingredients
- 1.5 cup all purpose flour maida
- 3 tbsp custard powder vanilla flavor
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp vinegar (I have used apple cider vinegar)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup oil
- 1 cup milk lukewarm
- 3/4 cup sugar I have used raw sugar. You can use the regular sugar.
- 4 tbsp plum jam You can use jam of your choice such as mixed fruit, strawberry, blackcurrant.
Instructions
- In a bowl add milk and add vinegar to it. Mix it. Keep it aside for 5 minutes. The milk will start curdling as shown.
- In the meantime, sift the dry ingredients (all purpose flour, custard powder, baking soda and salt). Line the muffin mould/tray with cupcake liners and keep aside.
- In a mixing bowl, add oil and sugar. Beat them with a hand whisk till sugar dissolves.
- Now add the curdled milk to it and mix them well for 2 minutes.
- Add 2 tbsp of plum jam and mix well.
- Mix them well.
- Add the dry ingredient gradually in batches and mix them gently.
- The cake batter is ready. Do not overmix them.
- Fill the batter with the help of spoon in the cupcake liners. It will be around two tablespoon per mould.
- Put the remaining 2 tbsp plum jam on the batter as shown in the pic.
- Tap the cupcake tray gently and bake in the preheated oven @ 180 C for 18-20 minutes. The time varies from oven to oven.
- After 18-20 minutes check and remove the mold. Remove from the oven and cool them. The cupcakes are ready to use now.
- The cupcakes are ready to serve. Serve them warm with cup of tea or coffee. They can be refrigerated for a week in airtight container.
Nutrition
Calories: 187kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 9mg | Sodium: 140mg | Potassium: 54mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 35IU | Vitamin C: 0.5mg | Calcium: 28mg | Iron: 0.7mg
Ghau Na Jada Lot Badam No Sheero/ Atta Badaam Ka Sheera / Coarse Wheat FLour Almond Halwa
Ghau Na Jada Lot Badam No Sheero/ Atta Badaam Ka Sheera / Coarse Wheat Flour Almond Halwa is a traditional and quick Indian recipe made from coarse whole wheat flour, almond, milk, sugar and ghee. The flavor is enhanced with saffron, cardamom and rose water. It is rich in fibre and loaded with goodness of almonds and thus is a very nutritious breakfast and also can be enjoyed as sweet dish or dessert. It can be served warm or cold and can be refrigerated for a week.
The sheera is good winter dessert. I prefer eating it warm. Since it uses coarse wheat flour, it will absorb more milk. So you can add more milk if needed as the absorption capacity varies on type of wheat flour.
The sheera goes well with traditional dishes like daal, chawal. subji and roti.
You can also try out recipe of sooji sheera and moong dal sheera from the blog.
Ghau Na Jada Lot Badam No Sheero/ Atta Badaam Ka Sheera / Coarse Wheat FLour Almond Halwa
Ghau Na Jada Lot Badam No Sheero/ Atta Badaam Ka Sheera / Coarse Wheat FLour Almond Halwa is a traditional and quick Indian recipe made from coarse whole wheat flour, almond, milk, sugar and ghee. The flavor is enhanced with saffron, cardamom and rose water. It is rich in fibre and loaded with goodness of almonds and thus is a very nutritious breakfast and also can be enjoyed as sweet dish or dessert. It can be served warm or cold and can be refrigerated for a week.
Servings: 12 people
Calories: 419kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cup wheat flour coarse wheat flour/bhakri flour/jado lot
- 1 cup ghee clarified butter
- 1.25 cup sugar you can add more sugar if more sweetness required.
- 7 cup milk
- 2 tsp cardamom powder elaichi powder
- 1/2 cup powdered almonds
- 1/4 cup almond sliced, for garnishing
- saffron kesar, few strands
- 2 tsp rosewater optional
Instructions
- Put milk in the pot to boil.
- When it gets warm, put the saffron strands and let the milk come to boil.
- Now heat ghee in a non stick or a heavy thick bottom pan.
- Once the ghee is melted put the coarse whole wheat flour / bhakri flour or jado lot in the pan.
- Roast the flour with ghee on medium heat for 8-10 minutes or till it is aromatic and is golden in color.
- The flour is nice golden and roasted well.
- Add powdered almonds to the roasted flour.
- Roast the flour for couple minutes.
- Now gradually add hot milk the the roasted flour mixture.
- The milk will start to absorb. Add remaining milk and mix well.
- Once the entire milk is absorbed, add sugar, rose water and cardamom powder.
- Cover and cook the mixture for 7-8 minutes on low heat.
- The sugar will be dissolved and the milk is nicely absorbed by the flour.
- Ghee is separated from the flour. Mix well.
- The mixture will be nice and smooth. You can nicely level it with a spoon. The sheera is ready to serve. Serve it warm or cold. It can be refrigerated for a week in an airtight container.
- Grease a bowl with ghee. Put some saffron strands in it. Put the sheera and press it nicely. Now flip the bowl on the serving plate and unmould the sheera. Garnish with sliced almonds and enjoy!!
- Enjoy the sheera for breakfast or as a sweet dish or dessert!!
Nutrition
Calories: 419kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Cholesterol: 52mg | Sodium: 62mg | Potassium: 234mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 28g | Vitamin A: 230IU | Vitamin C: 0.1mg | Calcium: 183mg | Iron: 1.4mg
Apricot Mango Balls
Apricot Mango Balls are healthy snack prepared by grinding together dried turkish apricots, walnuts, almonds, desiccated coconut and dried mango fruit or mango bar and shaping them into balls . They are very healthy, nutritious, full of energy and fibre. You can enjoy them as a quick breakfast, or for small mid day or after school snack. They are gluten free. Replace ghee with coconut oil to make it vegan. They are a very healthy option while fasting (upwaas / vraat).
Dried Apricots are a good source of Vitamin A, potassium and fibre. They can be consumed as they are available and can be used for making many different dishes such as muesli, muesli bar, cakes, muffins, chocolate, puddings, energy balls.
My son loves the dried apricot and loves to snack on them. So I have the apricot stocked in my pantry.
As the winters have started in Sydney I wanted to make some sweet but which has no ghee or sugar and still packed with energy. I checked in my pantry and saw some apricots and decided to make apricot balls. I had recently visited India and my mother had packed me aam papad (Dried mango bar) made in her farm industry. So thought of utilising them in the recipe to get a nice mango flavor.. I have also added walnuts and almonds. Walnuts are valuable vegetarian source of the essential fatty acid omega-3. Almonds are good source of vitamin E, rich in antioxidants, fibre, digestible carbohydrates. Desiccated coconut contains no cholesterol or trans fats while being rich in a number of essential nutrients, including dietary fiber, manganese, copper and selenium.
If you are using dried mango in place of the mango bar, the recipe will be totally sugar free.
With so many healthy ingredients in front of me, I am tempted to make these healthy energy balls. Food processor is very useful when you have to chop the ingredients in big batch at one time. It is your best assistant in your kitchen. I am happy to invest in it for my kitchen. So everything goes in my food processor and within minutes comes out nicely grounded. I shaped the grounded mixture into balls and tadaa the healthy apricot mango balls are ready!! Already feasted on couple of them while shaping them into balls.
Do not worry if you do not have a food processor. Chop all the ingredients and then pulse them in a mixture grinder in batches till you get fine mixture.
Friends I am always looking for healthy recipe for my family and I felt so happy that my husband and son enjoyed them. It was a good snack for Aarav after his sport training sessions.
I have also shared earlier a similar recipe with Dates.
I am so happy to share the recipe with you. Happy healthy cooking!!
Apricot Mango Balls
Apricot Mango Balls are healthy snack prepared by grinding together dried turkish apricots, walnuts, almonds, desiccated coconut and dried mango fruit or mango bar and shaping them into balls . They are very healthy, nutritious, full of energy and fibre. You can enjoy them as a quick breakfast, or for small mid day or after school snack. They are gluten free. Replace ghee with coconut oil to make it vegan. They are a very healthy option while fasting (upwaas / vraat).
Servings: 20 balls
Calories: 104kcal
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried apricot
- 1 cup desiccated coconut
- 1/2 cup mango bar or dried mango fruit
- 1/2 cup walnut chopped
- 1/2 cup almonds chopped
- 1 tsp ghee or coconut oil to make vegan
Instructions
- In a food processor, add chopped walnuts, apricot, mango bar, almonds and desiccated coconut.
- Pulse them together for 5-6 times.
- Now run the food processor on high speed to chop and grind them very finely.
- Remove the mixture in a bowl.
- Grease your palms with ghee (use coconut oil for making vegan). Spoon small portion on the palm and roll it into a smooth ball. Make all the balls similarly.
- The apricot mango balls are ready to serve.
- These healthy apricot mango balls can be stored and refrigerated in an airtight container for 10 days.
Nutrition
Calories: 104kcal | Carbohydrates: 10g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 136mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 855IU | Vitamin C: 1.1mg | Calcium: 20mg | Iron: 0.8mg
Eggless Mango Mousse
Eggless mango mousse is a creamy dessert made using fresh mango and cream. It is enjoyed by all and is a perfect dessert after having a good meal.
I have made this dessert during summer when fresh mangoes are available in plenty. I like using fresh mangoes for this dessert. However you can use the canned mango pulp available instead. (If you are using canned mango use the alphonso canned pulp). It will give nice taste and orange colour to the mousse.
I have made this dessert when one of our good friends (Vinod, Ruchita and their son Ishaan) visited us. They were the first family whom we were introduced when we moved to Sydney. The couple is a very lovely, energetic and jovial couple. They have helped us lot and we love spending time with them. It was the Christmas holidays in Sydney.
I have prepared some kebabs, bruschetta and kofta biryani for lunch. It was a hot summer afternoon and after having a good lunch, mango mousse was an excellent way to end our lunch on the hot day.
They have enjoyed the food and the dessert. The colour of the mango mousse was eye catching and the taste the of fresh mango was divine.
So friends just make this quick and easy no fuss dessert and enjoy it with your family and friends!!
Eggless Mango Mousse
Eggless Mango Mousse is the creamy dessert made from fresh mango and cream. Agar-agar is used in place of gelatine to set the dessert.
Servings: 16 shotglasses
Calories: 153kcal
Ingredients
- 2 cup full fat cream
- 2 cup mango pulp
- 1/2 cup icing sugar
- 2 tsp agar agar powder
- 2 tbsp water to dissolve agar agar
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- cherry to garnish
- blueberry to garnish
- mint leaves to garnish
- 1/2 cup mango pulp for making mango glaze
Instructions
- Take agar agar powder in a bowl.
- Add water to it and stir.
- The agar agar will be dissolved. Keep aside.
- Take chilled full fat cream in a bowl. (I have put the bowl and the blades in the freezer couple of hour before whipping). Start whipping with an electric beater on low speed for 4 minutes.
- The cream will start to become thick. Add the icing sugar to it around 1/4 cup.
- Beat on medium speed for 4 minutes. Soft peaks will start to form. Now beat on high speed for another 4-5 minutes.
- The cream will become thick and have stiff peaks. Cover and refrigerate till in use,
- Now take mango pulp in a pan. Add 1/4 cup of sugar and melted agar agar. Mix well.
- Let the mixture come to boil and everything is dissolved well. Remove from heat. Add lemon juice and let the mango mixture cool.
- Now take the whip cream and add mango mixture to it. (leave 1/2 cup of mango mixture aside to be used as a glaze).
- Gently fold the mixture till everything is mixed well.
- Take the container or glasses in which the mousse is to be set. Fill first with the prepared cream and mango mixture. Now top with the prepared mango mixture glaze.
- Set in the freeze for 5-6 hours. Remove from the refrigerator and garnish with cherry or blueberries or mint leaves or mango cube or dry nuts.
- Serve the mango mouse chilled.
Nutrition
Calories: 153kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Fat: 11g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 40mg | Sodium: 19mg | Potassium: 22mg | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 1320IU | Vitamin C: 5.4mg | Calcium: 23mg | Iron: 4.6mg
Coconut Biscuitpara/ Coconut Cracker
Coconut Biscuitpara/ Coconut Cracker is a variation of traditional Indian snack “shankarapara”. It is healthy, is baked and is made with wholewheat flour and oats. It is made by adding coconut and sugar to the flour. It is flavored with fennel seeds and cardamom powder. You can also deep fry instead of baking. It is a very healthy and delicious snack and can be enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee. Enjoy baking it during festivals and delight your family and friends!!
A combination of “Biscuit” and “para” from Shankarpara = Biscuitpara. This is what we used to call this snack delicacy that my mom used to prepare for us during the festivals of Janmasthami, Diwali and Holi. My mom used to make them thick and cut them into diamond shape. She used to make them with all purpose flour (maida) and then deep fry them. The flavor of coconut and the smell of cardamom is simply irresistible. It is crispy like a biscuit and hence, as children, my brother and I used to call it as biscuitpara instead of shankarpara.
Since now-a-days, we avoid eating fried food and are calorie conscious, I have baked the biscuitpara. Also I have made it healthier using whole wheat flour and oats. My son and husband love them a lot and I am super happy to introduce my favorite childhood snack to my son.
Friends, do make this healthy version of shankarpara and enjoy it guilt free at any time of the day!!
Coconut Biscuitpara/ Coconut Cracker
Coconut Biscuitpara/ Coconut Cracker is a variation of traditional Indian snack "shankarapara" and it is healthy and it is baked and made with wholewheat flour and oats. It is made by adding coconut and sugar to the flour. It is flavored with fennel seeds and cardamom powder. You can also deep fry instead of baking. It ia a very healthy and delicious snack and can be enjoyed with a cup of tea or coffee. Enjoy baking it during festivals and delight your family and friends!!
Servings: 50 crackers
Calories: 44kcal
Ingredients
- 100 g unsalted butter or thick ghee
- 1.5 cup whole wheat flour
- 0.5 cup oats
- 0.5 cup desiccated coconut
- 2 tsp cardamom powder
- 0.5 cup sugar I have used raw sugar. You can also grind the sugar and use.
- 8 tbsp milk
- 1/8 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp fennel seeds
Instructions
- In a food processor bowl or a mixing bowl add whole wheat flour, oats, desiccated coconut, fennel seeds, cardamom powder,sugar, salt and baking pwoder.
- Close the lid and pulse food processor for few times. The mixture will get the crumbs like texture. (Or with the finger tips mix all the ingredients gently till they get the crumb texture if mixing in a bowl).
- Add milk and pulse all the ingredients. (If mixing with hands, gradually add milk and knead the flour).
- The mixture will start to come together in the food processor.
- Remove the mixture in a bowl and knead it gently to form a dough. Cover and keep aside for 20 minutes.
- Divide the kneaded dough into equal portions. Take one portion and make a ball. Take a butter paper or greased plastic sheet and flatten the prepare ball on it.
- Cover the flatten ball with another sheet of butter paper or greased plastic sheet and start rolling.
- Roll the ball into a circle with 4mm thickness. With the help of knife or pizza cutter, cut into squares or rectangles. Prick the surface the rolled dough with fork.
- Remove the uneven edges.
- Line the baking tray with baking paper or grease it with butter. Put the cut pieces on the lined baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated oven at 180 C.
- The biscuitpara are ready and remove them from oven and keep aside to cool.
- Enjoy the healthy and delicious biscuitpara with a cup of tea or coffee. Pack them in your kids lunchbox or give them as an afternoon snack. The biscuitpara can be stored for 15 days in an airtight container.
Nutrition
Calories: 44kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Fat: 2g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 4mg | Sodium: 13mg | Potassium: 25mg | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 55IU | Calcium: 6mg | Iron: 0.2mg
Vegan Carrot Halwa
Gajar ka halwa or carrot halwa or carrot fudge is a popular traditional Indian dessert and is enjoyed by all age groups. In India, during winters we get red and juicy carrots. The carrot halwa made with red carrots gets a nice red colour. However, you can use the orange carrots if red color carrots are not available.
The gajar ka halwa is a light dessert perfect for any occasion and celebration. Since it does not use any flour it is gluten-free.
The gajar ka halwa is made by simmering the grated carrots in full-fat milk. It is cooked until the milk evaporates and only milk solids (mawa/khoya) are left. Sugar and ghee are added at the end. The halwa gets a nice dark color as the sugar gets caramelized on cooking.
But can the gajar ka halwa be enjoyed by the people who follow vegan diet or are allergic to dairy products? Yes of course they can enjoy the “vegan carrot halwa”. The dairy products are replaced by non dairy products such as almond milk, powdered almonds, and oil. The process of making the halwa remains the same as that of making the normal carrot halwa.
I had invited an Australian family ( Duffy and his wife Lil along with children Franky and Luke) for dinner. Lil is allergic to dairy products. I had made tandoori aloo and Hariyali tofu tikka for starters. I have made undhiyu for main dish with parathas. I wanted to balance the heavy food with refreshing and light dessert. Carrot halwa suited for the category. Since Lil was allergic to dairy, I thought of making the halwa with almond milk and powdered almonds. Believe me the vegan carrot halwa was so delicious and had good flavor of almonds.
I enjoyed making it for my guests and also packed them some!!
Please friends do try out this recipe and I would love to hear your views and comments!!
Happy healthy cooking!!
Vegan Carrot Halwa
Vegan Carrot Halwa is a non dairy version of popular Indian dessert "carrot halwa" and is made with grated carrots that are cooked in a nondairy milk such as almond and is flavored with cardamon and nuts. It can be served hot for breakfast or served warm with a scoop of non dairy ice cream for vegan diet. It can be enjoyed by people who are observing fast (upwaas/vrat).
Servings: 8 people
Calories: 328kcal
Ingredients
- 1 kg carrot washed,peeled and grated
- 1 tbsp oil any flavorless oil. I have used peanut oil
- 4 cup almond milk
- 2 cup almond meal powdered almonds ( I have blanched almonds, peeled, dried and ground them)
- 3/4 cup sugar I have used raw sugar
- 2 tsp cardamom powder
- 1 tbsp almonds blanched and sliced
- 1 tbsp pistachio blanched and sliced
Instructions
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pan. (you can use any flavorless oil. I have used flavorless refined peanut oil).
- When the oil is heated, add the grated carrot and saute on medium heat. After 5-8 minutes the carrots will start to cook and shrink in size.
- Add milk to it and mix well. Stir in between and let the milk boil on medium heat. (I prefer using almond milk as a non dairy milk for making halwa the taste of almond will penetrate well in making the halwa). The milk will start boiling. Now cook the mixture on medium heat stirring continuously.
- After some time the milk will reduce. Stir continuously and scrap the carrots from the sides.
- The milk is now 90% evaporated. Add sugar and mix well.
- Add cardamom powder and mix well.
- Add the blanched , peeled and ground almond to the halwa. (the ground almonds gives the texture similar to that of milk granules or khoya like the normal dairy carrot halwa).
- Mix well and cook for a minute. The vegan carrot halwa is ready to serve.
- Garnish with almonds and pistachio slices and serve warm or cold. You can also serve with a non dairy ice cream.
Nutrition
Calories: 328kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 249mg | Potassium: 424mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 25g | Vitamin A: 20880IU | Vitamin C: 7.5mg | Calcium: 255mg | Iron: 1.6mg
