Lauki Halwa

Festive season !!!. SALE is ON everywhere with heavy discounts online and offline both. Ha Ha good for shopoholics.

Today is the sixth day of Navratri. For nine days people worship nine forms of Goddess Durga. Tenth day is celebrated as Vijayadashmi or Dusshehara signifying victory of good over evil. 
People observe fast for eight days and on the ninth day the fast is broken. 
During fasts people are not supposed to eat salt, onions, garlic and anything that belongs to the cereal group .One can consume fruits, vegetables and milk products. but ya in place of salt rock salt can be used. 
Many people observe ekasan where you can eat the regular meals sitting in one place once a day.
Anyways there are so many fast or vrat recipes flooding in these days that you dont really get bored of eating only fruits. Pizza hut has also introduced its vrat special pizza, I haven't tasted it yet..

Lauki(bottle-gourd) halwa I made while fasting .

2 cups grated bottle gourd
1/2 litre milk and 100ml condensed milk )
3 tbsp ghee
1/2 tsp cardamom powder or crushed cardom seeds
1/2 tsp saffron dissolved in 1 tsp milk(optional)
5-6 broken cashews
almond and pistachio slivers for garnishing.

Heat ghee and saute grated lauki for 5 min. 
Then add milk and simmer stirring frequently until the mixture is reduced. Do not let the milk stick to the bottom of pan it gives a bad smell, so keep stirring, scratching the bottom of pan. 
When reduced completely add condensed milk and simmer again until it thickens. 
sweetness can be adjusted to one's taste. If you want sweeteer add a few spoons of sugar.
Add the remaining ingredients and serve warm or cold.

To make without condensed milk Replace it with 1/2 litre milk and 1/4 cup sugar. First boil one liter milk, simmer it and reduce it to near about 1/2 the quantity and then follow the same procedure.

Gond ke laddu

A very Happy and Prosperous New Year to all my readers.
This is my first post for 2014 so I thought I should start with something sweet.












Gond is an edible gum. Gond laddu is a traditional Rajasthani sweet usually consumed during winter as it generates heat in the body.

Gond is considered to have several healing properties especially post delivery. But khoya is eliminated from the recipe for those mothers who have recently given birth to a baby. It is also very good for lactating mothers.

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This recipe demands a little effort and perfection. I've seen even perfectionists go wrong with this one. A few tips may help with this
1. gond has to be fried properly and after that picking up some of the unpopped gond  is also very important else you will end up with laddus where gond keeps sticking to your teeth. And trust me this spoils the whole taste.
2. The laddu has to be moist and not too dry or hard, this depends on the sugar syrup consistency.



ingredients:


250g gond/edible gum
300g desiccated coconut (I Prefer fresh khopra, remove the skin and cut into pieces and run in a mixie)

450g maida
50g fine semolina
500g fresh khoya
900g sugar
1/4cup milk+ 4 tbspwater
Ghee for frying (approx 500g)
7 cardamoms
1 cup boiling water
for garnishing a few almonds and pistachios
silver foil optional

1. Spread the gond in a metal plate and keep in sun for about 30 min to 1 hr. Don't leave for long. This will remove the moisture and reduce the chances of having unpopped gum while frying.
2. Heat ghee in a heavy bottomed pan on medium heat and put a tbsp of gum in it. The gum starts popping and it immediately rises up. Carefully but quickly strain it from the ghee(before it turns red) with a strainer without disturbing the lower layer, as the unpopped gum if any will settle down in the ghee. Fry the remaining gum similarly. You can use more ghee as required. I know its a difficult process but after one or two tries you will gain mastery over it.
3.Allow the ghee to cool. By that time start picking up unpopped or deep red coloured gum from the fried gum.
4. Grate the khoya and keep aside.
5. Strain the ghee. Take a heavy bottomed pan (you can wipe and use the same pan). Add the flour and semolina and add enough strained ghee needed to saute the flour. On a slow flame keep roasting the flour stirring continuously until it starts releasing aroma. It will take near about 30 to 40 min.
6. Once the flour is roasted, add khoya and roast again for about 10 min. Be careful as it will stick to the bottom very quickly, so keep stirring.
7. Now add khopra(dry coconut) and saute for another five min. Allow to cool. 

For the sugar syrup:
8. Take sugar in a pan and pour water just enough to cover the sugar. Switch on the gas and dissolve the sugar.
9. Once the sugar syrup starts frothing add milk and water mixture slowly to it. And allow it to boil on high flame without disturbing.
10. Now you can see the scum collecting to the sides of the pan. Remove the dirt with a ladle. After removing all the scum you can see a clear sugar syrup.
11. Now boil it until you get a multiple thread consistency, this you can check by taking a drop of the syrup in between your thumb and index finger and press it a few times, if you see more than two threads, its ready.
Remove from fire and Add crushed cardamom seeds to it. Keep stirring the syrup continuously for 5 min.

Final touch:
12. At this stage keep the boiling water ready. Slowly add the sugar syrup to the mixture and mix well. Add the boiling water quickly to it and mix thoroughly.  Add the fried gond to the flour mixture (the mixture should be cool). If cutting into squares(chakki) reserve a little gond for topping.mixvwell and add almond and pistachios to this mixture, if preparing chakkis than you can reserve it for topping.

13.  Now either make small balls(laddus) out of this mixture by pressing in between your palms while warm or flatten into a greased tin to make chakkis. For chakki top with the fried gum and nuts and press lightly or alternatively you can put a silver foil on top of it.
To cut into squares make lines with a knife while warm. After cooling carefully release the squares with a spatula one by one.
14. Store in airtight boxes.



my entry for

http://krithiskitchen.blogspot.in/2013/11/celebrating-3-years-of-blogging-with.html

Sattu

Sawan Ka Mahina.. Its the month of Sawan, according to Indian calender. Its the most popular month in bollywood movies, symbolizing rainy season. many hindi songs are written specially for this month .

'Raksha Bandhan' festival for brothers & sisters falls on the last day of this month. For the last two years I was lucky to make it to India for this festival but this time doesn't seem so. Anyways this is for you dear brothers.


>Sattu is a sweet specially made in sawan. In rajasthan Sawan & Sattu go together. Its customary for parents to gift sattu to their married daughter or her in -laws during the month of sawan.
The authentic recipe demands a little effort & patience in roasting the dal. I have another easy version as well where in you can prepare it instantly in no time. Though the tastes may slightly differ from each other yet are equally tasty.
The authentic Recipe:
This recipe I learnt from my mother-in-law who is a perfectionist in this recipe. To make sattu she prefers hand mill to grind the dal over a mixie. she says this way its ground to the desired texture evenly. Though I being a little lazy prefer the easy options. But the end results definately vary when you use the mill.

1/2 kg gram dal
1/2 kg powdered sugar
400gm ghee or more
silver varq(foil) to decorate

Roast gram dal in a heavy bottomed pan a little at a time over a slow flame stirring continuously. I say a little at a time because we need to roast evenly. Stirring over a low flame makes the dal cook evenly even from inside. So be patient don't rush to roast & slowly roast to a light brown color. Cool & coarsely grind the dal such that its powdery yet you can feel it grainy just like in a scrub. (I hope, I was able to explain it for you to understand with my choice of words.....). Mix in powder sugar, powdered dal & warm ghee. Make flat disks out of it pressing in between your palms. If difficult to form sattu you can add a little more ghee. Decorate with silver foil.

Easy Version:
In southern India roasted gram dal is available, popularly called as putana in karnataka.
1 cup putana (roasted gram dal)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp cooking gum, optional (it gives a crunchy flavour to sattu)
3/4 cup ghee or more
silver foil to decorate

Roast the putana slightly for few minutes or until warm in a pan over a slow flame, this is just to remove moisture if any. Cool and powder the dal. Mix in sugar. Heat ghee & add cooking gum to it. Switch off gas once the gum starts popping up . Add this to the flour & sugar mixture & make flat disks out of it pressing between your palms. Decorate with Silver foil.

Watch Video : sattu

kheer- Rice porridge

1 litre milk

1/3 cup rice

1/3 cup sugar or more

few strands saffron

few cardamoms peeled & crushed

few almonds & pistachios, sliced

Bring the milk to a boil.

Add washed rice to it & gently stir.

Simmer until the rice is cooked & soft, stirring now & then in between to avoid sticking to the bottom. For a thicker & richer kheer its a good idea to overcook the rice.

Rub the saffron with 1 tsp of milk & add it to the kheer. Add sugar. Adjust sweetness to your taste and Simmer for another few minutes.

Garnished with sliced nuts & cardomom powder.

Serve warm or chilled as per your taste.

I personally like it chilled.

Kheer can be served just like that or popular accompaniments include poori or jalebi.

Puffed Rice Laddu

I never tried these laddus until recently my daughter saw a picture on net & started asking for it. First I tried Tarla Dalal's recipe which asked for the jaggery to be melted without water. It came out very tasty but I could not shape into laddus as it hardened very soon. The murmura (puffed rice) remained crisp & the whole thing tasted like a sweet mixture. May be I should have just spread the mixture into greased tray & cut into squares. But anyway I tried it with a few changes again & this time it came out perfectly. Though some how I liked the taste of the first one better as it was crispier & sweeter than the second one.

1 cup jaggery, grated or crushed

1 1/2 cup puffed rice or murmura

1/4 cup white til(sesame seeds)

1 cup water

few cardomoms peeled & crushed

ghee or oil for greasing

1. Roast Murmura & til separately in a hot pan for one or two min to remove any moisture.
2. Keep a greased Plate ready to place the laddus.
3. Melt jaggery with 1 cup water in a heavy bottomed pan over a medium flame. Keep stirring until it becomes very frothy. You can check if the jaggery has caramalised by dropping a drop into a glass of cold water. If it hardens that means its done. Its almost like 2 thread consistency. Even then if you are unsure check on a small portion of murmura, if you can form it into a ball then its done.
4. Add murmura, til & cardomom powder to the caramalised jaggery & stir in quickly. Grease your hands & take small portions & shape into laddus. You have shape the laddus while the mixture is still warm.

Moong Dal Halwa

Wishing you a Happy and Colorful Holi.


I hope you all enjoyed the festival of colors. In Armenia its impossible for me to find any gulal but anyway we celebrated Holi in our own way. I invited some of our Indians friends & threw a party for them. We really missed the colours. A saffron tilak on the forehead was the only thing we did to our guests in the name of colors. But atleast I could make the traditional moong dal halwa (rajasthan special) which was enjoyed by everyone and I received many compliments. Its a real hard work but worth every effort.

Moong Dal Halwa (with khoya)
cooking time: 1 hr 30 min
shelf life: 15 days refridgirated

250g. moong dal (split green gram dal)
250g. khoya
250g. ghee

300g. sugar
25g cardamoms peeled & crushed
blanched almonds and pistachios for garnish



Soak moong dal for atleast two hrs. Drain and grind to a fine paste using as little water as possible. Mix together ghee & dal paste & cook on slow flame stirring continuously to avoid sticking to the pan. In the begining you will have to stir vigourously as its very sticky. You can add a little more ghee if difficult to handle. After some time it becomes easier as the water evaporates. you can increase the flame slightly to speed up the process at this stage. But if you can't handle then better to keep low heat. Keep on roasting (for about an hour or more) until the ghee oozes out & its light brown in colour.
Grate the khoya and add it to the dal. roast for another 2 to 3 min. Allow to cool.
By that time make a sugar syrup of two thread consistency. Dissolve sugar in equal quantity of water and heat. you can check the consistency by taking a drop of syrup in between your thumb & forefinger, press tightly and release you can see threads. when it reaches the desired consistency remove from fire and stir in one direction for about 3 to 5 min to cool slightly. Add cardamom to the syrup and then add the syrup to the dal mixture. Mix well. Ready to eat after 1 hr. Garnish with blanched nuts.
ghar ki rasoi Tip: In case the halwa becomes too hard add a little milk and warm before serving.

Moong dal Halwa (without khoya)

250g moong dal
250g. ghee
250g. sugar
25g. cardamoms peeled & crushed
blanched almonds & pistachios for garnish

Follow the same procedure as above to roast the dal. Dissolve sugar in 250 ml water. Bring to a few boils and add to the dal. Cook while stirring until the halwa thickens & leaves out ghee. Garnish with blanched nuts & cardamom.

Only Diwali Treat event hosted by Sowmya and announce by Pari

Carrot Halwa

'Double Oscar delight for A R Rahman'.

Hurray, Finally India made it at Oscars with Slum Dog Millionare winning 8 prizes out of 10 nominations and our own music maestro A.R.Rahman bagging in two awards for best music. Bravo, Rahman. Its celebration time for whole of Indian movie lovers. I congradulate them for their efforts & hard work to bring India the much awaited golden statue.

To celebrate Oscars I think, I don't mind to put on a few calories. Lets celebrate!

Carrot Halwa:

Traditionally carrot halwa is made by sauteing the carrots in ghee first and then adding khoya to it & of-course leading to an automatic addition of loads of calories. By using non-fat milk for khoya you can reduce the unnecessary calories and the addition of ghee at the end will give the same taste & glaze to the Halwa
Red carrots are used for this recipe but its unavailable in this country so I have used regular orange carrots.

1 heaped cup grated carrots
1 ½ cup milk
½ cup sugar
½ tsp cardamom powder
A few broken cashewnuts
2 tbsp ghee

Boil milk in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Add carrots & simmer until the mixture thickens stirring occassionally in between. As it thickens stir continuously to avoid sticking to the surface of the pan. Add sugar, cardamom powder, ghee & cashewnuts & simmer until thick, stirring continuously. Serve luke warm or chilled.