Rava Besan Laddus

I meant to post this for Diwali, but these days, time flies even before I can think of catching it! This was our first Diwali with our dearest daughter "Ritika", so obviously, it was extra-special. Juggling between getting back to work, looking after Ritu, and managing other routine chores, we could find some time to make a few Diwali delicacies, thanks to my Mom, which otherwise would have been impossible for me to do - yes, taking care of a 3-month old is NOT an easy job!! One of the easiest Indian sweet is indeed Rava-Besan Laddus, and I particularly like the fact that they can be preserved at room temperature for about a week, and even longer if refrigerated. They require minimal preparation, taste great, and look great when decked one on top of the other and served to friends and family as you celebrate the festival together!

Ingredients
Makes about 25 medium-sized Laddus

3 cups Rava (Semolina)
1.5 cup Besan (Gram Flour)
1 + 1 tbsp Ghee (Clarified Butter)
1 cup Sugar (use more if you prefer sweeter)
2 cups Water
Sliced Almonds and cashews to garnish (optional)

Method
Take 1 tbsp ghee in a non-stick pan. Once the ghee is melted add rava to it and half roast it till it becomes faint light pinkish and starts giving out roasted smell. Don't overcook it. remove and keep aside.

Then take the remaining ghee in the same pan and add the besan to it and roast again for about 8-10 mins till the mixture becomes golden brown in color and starts giving out a faint smell.

Along with this, keep another pan to make the sugar syrup with all the sugar and water. Keep stirring the sugar syrup and check the consistency till it comes to single-wired texture (take a little sugar syrup between your fingers and check to see that the syrup forms a single strand as you pull your fingers apart).

Take the rava-besan mixture in a plate and allow it to cool. Once the sugar syrup is done, don't let it cool much, and add it to the rava mixture till it becomes like a thick paste. Cover and set aside (about 2 hours) to let the mixture harden a little as the flours soak in the sugar syrup.

You can see that the mixture when cooled enough, it becomes a bit thicker than before; Make laddus out of it and garnish them with sliced almonds and cashews if you like. We like our plain:)

These can be stored in an air-tight container for about 10-12 days at room temperature, and more if refrigerated.

Garlic Sev Recipe & Happy Diwali!

Its time for Diwali, one of the most cherished and fondly celebrated Indian festival, something that signifies Happiness and Light! Its a time to forgive and forget, to light the lamps of education, awareness, and faith. For us Hindus, it also signifies the dawn of a New Year, so its extra special! I take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you a Warm and Happy Diwali, one that reigns in loads of joy, prosperity, good health and fortune for you and your family. May you be blessed with peace and success in all your endeavors! It is traditional to feed people with Sweets and Snacks on Diwali, so here's some homemade Lehsuni (Garlic) Ganthiya to awaken your taste-buds!

Ingredients
100gm gram flour (besan)
1 tspn ground black pepper
1/4 tspn turmeric powder
1 tbsp soda-bi-carb
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp red-chili & garlic paste
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Special Equipment
Sev no Sancho (as shown in the photo below)(img source)
This can be bought from any Indian store where they sell Indian vessels. It is generally made of copper or brass, and is quite heavy. But it comes with several moulds so you can use it to make think or thick Sev, and also Jalebi, Ganthiya, Chakri and other Gujarati goodies!



Method
Mix besan flour with black-pepper powder and lemon juice, soda-bi-carb, oil, and salt. Add the red-chili and garlic paste, and add enough water and knead into a smooth dough. Shape the dough into a thick cylinder.

Now place this dough in the Sev machine; use a thick-holed mould as the base. Close the lid tightly from the top.

Heat oil in a frying pan and wait till it gets sufficiently hot. Drop a tiny piese of dough in it - if it rises immediately, means the oil is hot enough.

Now holding the machine over the hot oil, rotate the lid and force the mixer through the holes by turning the handle, spreading it out evenly in circular movement in the oil.

Fry the Sev for about 2-3 minutes on medium flame till it is lightly golden-brown in color. Remove and drain on a tissue paper, and repeat with the remaining dough.

This savoury Diwali snack is on it's way to Srivalli's JFI-Festival Treats, originally started by Indira. This Lehsuni(Garlic) Sev tastes great with tea! It can be stored in an air-tight container for upto 2 weeks.

Here's wishing all of you a Happy and Prosperous Diwali!

Motichoor Boondi Laddu - For Diwali

Diwali is just one week away, and I'm sure preparations are on in full swing in many Indian households! As one fo the most widely celebrated Indian Festival, Diwali is a time for homemade sweets and snacks, and these Motichoor(Boondi) Laddoos are an apt creation! This Indian sweet gets its name from the Hindi word "Boond", meaning droplets, or "Moti", meaining Pearls!! Motichoor laddus made from fine gram-flour droplets which are fried and then immersed in a thick & delicious saffron flavored sugar syrup, and finally rolled into the shape of Laddoos. It looks like a lot of work, but when you put one in your mouth, you'll know its totally worth it!

An important part of any festival is the fact that you get to do things together, with your friends and family. Being is US, I miss the charm of some Indian festivals, but in my brief India trip, we tried to capture the essence as much as possible! The credit of this recipe goes to Saroj Ben, the lady who helps us make delicious delicacies during festival time, and of course to my Mom! Its great how inspiring and spiritually healing cooking can be.

My mom and my mother-in-law, both wanted to pack as many Diwali delicacies for us as the airlines would allow us to, so I have tonnes of goodies to share with you. For now, enjoy these lovely Motichoor Ladoos!

Ingredients
(Makes about 25 Laddoos)

For Boondi
2 1/2 cups of Gram Flour (Besan)
500 ml of Whole Milk
3 cups of Clarified Butter (Ghee) - for deep frying
1/4 cup dry-fruits - finely chopped (optional)

For Sugar Syrup
2 1/2 cups of Sugar
2 tbsp of Whole Milk
1/2 tsp of Cardamom Powder
A few drops of Saffron essence (for deep frying)
3 and 1/2 cups of Water

Special Equipement
A strainer, colander or fine sieve with droplet-sized or smaller pores

Method

Making the Sugar Syrup
In a large deep vessel, put the sugar and water and bring to a boil. Once the sugar dissolves, add in the milk. Boil for 5 minutes or until scum forms on top. Strain with the strainer spoon and return to stove. Add in the saffron color and boil until it is sticky but no thread has formed. Add in the cardamom powder and mix well. Then set aside.

Making the Boondi
Mix the flour and milk together to form a smooth batter. Heat the clarified butter in a heavy frying pan. Hold the boondi-strainer over the frying pan with one hand. With the other hand, pour some batter all over the holes. Tap gently until all of the batter has fallen into the hot clarified butter. Be careful to stay away from the stove as the ghee might sputter a little. Stir with another strainer and remove once it is light golden in color. Set aside on a paper towel, and repeat the process for the remaining batter.

Making the Laddoos
Partly crush/smash 1/4th of the fried boondi with hand; immerse all the fried boondi in the syrup. Drain any excess syrup and spread in a large plate. Add the chopped dry fruits to this mixture. Sprinkle about 2 tsp of hot water over it. Cover and set aside for 5-10 minutes so the boondi soaks up the syrup and it becomes soft.

Once it gets sticky, and cool enough to handle, take a small portion of the boondi mixture and shape into small round balls with moist palms. Do the same for all laddoos.

Arrange on a plate and keep open to dry so the laddoos solidify. One they are hard enough, you can store in an air-tight container and keep in the regrigerator for upto 2 weeks.

Enjoy these delicious Motichoor (Boondi) Laddus and share them with your friends and guest as you celebrate Diwali!

Need more Diwali Sweets? Try the Kesar Almond Burfi, Coconut Laddoos, Kesar Rasmalai or Bengalli Rasgullas and make your Diwali a memorable one!

Rasgulla - Traditional Bengali Sweet

Since childhood, I've had a weakness for Bengali sweets like Soft Rasgullas, Rasmalai and Sandesh, just because they have a juicy and rich texture made of ricotta cheese and khoya, and combined with "ras", made with either sugar syrup or milk, these delicious indian sweets never fail to impress! "Rasogullas", as they are called in West bengal, are favorites with not just the locals, people around the country love them. They have a fake reputation of being hard to make at home. But I'd seen my mom make these when I was young, so it gave me enough strength to try making them myself. After some hesitation, a bit of aprehension, and a mindset to not feel bad if they didn't turn out well, I was surprised to find that my rasgullas were actually pretty good!

I had a big batch of homemade paneer and as RCI-Bengal was around the corner, I decided to try a hand at my favourite indian sweet. The recipe is simple, its just the pressure-cooking part that makes you apprehensive. I have added some tips to keep your rasgullas soft, and hope they help you in your sweet venture too! Remember, its definitely worth the effort!

Ingredients
2 cups homemade paneer
2 tsp all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
6-7 strands of saffron (kesar)
2 tsp cardamom powder (optional)
3 cups water

Method
Make paneer at home following my recipe for homemade paneer. (sorry, I didn't want to type it all again!:))

Take the paneer at room temperature, add 2 tsp of flour and crumble this mixture in a food processor. Pulse coarsely for 30 to 40 seconds.

To make the sugar syrup, pour 3 cups of water in a pressure cooker. Add 1 cup sugar(keep the other 1 cup for later) and bring this to a boil on medium heat.

Meanwhile knead the ricotta cheese mixture again for about 1 minute using your hands. Rub it against the palms to make it smooth; remember, the more you knead the softer the rasgullas will be, and the easier it would be to shape them.

Now divide the mixture into 15 equal sized portions and roll them into balls or any other desired shapes. I have made rasmalai before, hence find it easier to shape these into flatter discs as it gets cooked faster.

When the sugar syrup comes to a boil, gently drop the rasgulla balls into the syrup. Close the cooker and pressure cook for about 7-8 mins. After one whistle, wait for 5 minutes and turn off the stove.

Do not overcook, else the rasgullas will become too hard. It's generally good to wait for one whistle to go off, then turn off heat and check if the balls are cooked. They should approximately double in size and become fluffy. If you think they are not done yet, cover the lid, without the whistle, and cook for another 5 mins or so at medium heat.

Open the cooker after 10 minutes and add the cardamom powder to the syrup and stir gently. Add another 1 cup of sugar and let it boil. Take the saffron strands and place in 2 tbsp warm water. Microwave for 1 minute, when it starts bleeding, add the saffron water to the sugar syrup to evenly flavor and color the entire sugar syrup.

Allow the rasgullas to cool before transferring them to a container and refrigerate till ready to use. If you do not have a pressure cooker, you can do this is a large crockpot too. Just keep it covered to allow steam to build and cook the rasgullas.

How To Make Rasgullas Soft?
I came across this while looking for tips to make rasgullas soft. To achieve this, divide your sugar in half; add only 1 cup sugar in the syrup initially and let it boil. Put the balls in boiling syrup; as soon as they puff up in about 5 to 10 minutes, remove the cheese balls. Add the remaining one cup of sugar. Heat till all the sugar is absorbed. Do NOT stir; turn off heat when syrup gets thick. Keep these tips in mind:

1. The more you knead the cheese (chenna), the softer your rasgullas will be
2. Do not add too much flour as that will make them hard
3. Do not let the cheese balls sit long; immediately cook them in the sugar syrup to keep them soft and allow them to puff up.

When serving, layer the rasgullas, add a generous helping of the syrup and garnish with chopped pistachios or saffron strands. Serve chilled and enjoy a traditional Bengali sweet! To make Kesar Rasmalai instead, follow the exact same recipe but use milk instead of sugar syrup.

Related Recipes:
Gulkand and Khoya Burfi
Coconut Laddoos
Gajar ka Halwa

Related Tags
paneer, indian-sweets, rasmalai, diwali-recipes

Kesar Rasmalai - Diwali Special !!

Diwali is one of the most popular Indian festival and would always remain to be so. Each region in India has a special way of celebrating it; the day after Diwali also heralds the beginning of a New financial year for some of the Hindus. So here's a beautiful and rich-looking Indian bengali sweet recipe that I am sure many of you must have tasted in Indian restaurants - the Kesar Rasmalai!

Rasmalai is by far the most cherished indian sweet in the whole country, superceeded only by tough competitiors like "Gulab Jamun" and "Rasgulla". People also think that its hard to make rasmalai at home, which I don't think is true. Yes, the end result does depend on the "channa" (recipe below) that you use, so you should either make it at home, or buy from a good sweet-shop. So go ahead and try my Kesar Rasmalai and see how you can woo your friends and family with this winning recipe!

Ingredients
4 cups whole milk for channa
1 cup sugar
3 cups of water
6-7 strands of saffron mixed in 3 tbsp warm milk
Cardamom, pistachio, almonds - slivered
lemon juice
3 cups whole milk (for the ras)
4-5 tbsp sugar (for the ras)

Method
First keep the 3 cups of milk for ras to boil until it thickens. Take a small cup, fill it with 3 tbsp milk; warm it in the microwave for 10 seconds, then add 6-7 strands of saffron to it and rub them etween your fingers to extract orange-yellow color and saffron flavor. Then add this to the boiling milk. Also add the sugar for the ras to it and add cardamom, pista and almond to it.Once the milk is reduced to about half it's size, remove from flame and set aside to cool in another container filled with cold water or ice cubes.

Next, bring the 4 cups of milk to boil. Once it starts boiling, reduce the flame, and add the lemon juice to it while stirring continuously to curdle the milk. Stir with a spoon, then slowly remove just the solid part, called the "chhanna" and tie it in a muslin or thin cloth. Keep it covered for at least a couple of hours. Hang the "potli" under the sink or put the cloth-covered chhana in a bigger bowl which will collect the water dripping from the mixture. The intention here is to separate just the solid curdled milk residue from the water or liquid part.

After 2 hours, remove the channa from the cloth. Take it in a bowl and mash well with your hands to form a smooth mixture. This will look like "Paneer" or cottage cheese, and you have to rub it between your palms a lot to make the mixture really smooth. Then make around 15 small-sized of balls or discs out of it. Again, make sure you keep the edges as smooth as possible. Now take a pressure cooker and add 3 cups of water and 1 cup of sugar. Mix well to form the sugar syrup. Add the balls in the pressure cooker and let it cook for two whistles.

Once the cooker has cooled down, remove the cooked balls. Press them gently between your palms to remove excess water, then arrange them in a serving dish. Pour half of the ras/milk mixture over them and let them soak into it for at least an hour. Refrigerate the remaining milk.

When ready to serve, pour the cold milk over the balls. Garnish with more chopped or slivered pistachios and almonds and dazzle your family and friends with this invigorating and delicious dessert! I am sure that Kesar Rasmalai will surely delight your guests! Happy Diwali to one and all!!

More Indian Sweet Recipes:
Dry-Fruit Basundi
Malpua with Rabdi

Coconut Laddoos (Koprapaak Burfi)

Coconut Burfi is an all-time favorite in India, and there's a reason behind it! It is really easy to make, and it tastes heavenly! What's more, people say that its an excellent offering to Gods, serving as perfect ambrosia. Isn't that enough reason to enjoy this treat?! It can be shapes as squares, called Burfi, or roll it up into balls called Laddus; anyway you serve it, your guests are bound to enjoy it! Also known as Koprapaak, this has been my favorite since childhood. So try this coconut burfi recipe yourself, and you'll know why its on everyone's crave-list!

Ingredients
1 can condensed milk
2 cups dessicated coconut
2 tsp cardamom powder
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup nuts - chopped (pistachios, almonds, cashews)
A few strands of saffron - to decorate

Method
Keep a little coconut and a few pistachios aside for garnishing. Mix the condensed milk and the remaining coconut in a bowl. Add the sugar and elaichi powder and stir on a low flame for about 4-5 mins. The milk is already thick, so don't over-heat else it may get burnt. Remove from flame, then add the chopped nuts and set aside till the mixture has cooled down enough to handle with your hands.

Shape into small laddoos(round balls). Roll each laddoo in a little dessicated coconut. Garnish each with a slit of pistachio and saffron. Alternately, you can spread the mixture after removing from flame into a slightly greased plate or thali which has edges. Then use a knife to cut into squares or diamonds if you want to make Coconut Burfi instead of laddoos.

Garnish with chopped nuts and saffron.

Tip: You can dissolve saffron (kesar) in 1 tsp warm water and add it to the mixture while heating to make yellow-colored Kesar Koprapaak.

Malpua with Rose-flavoured Rabdi (Indian Pancakes)

Everyone is familiar with pancakes and syrup, and its a dish savoured by a large number of people in and out of USA. But have you heard about the Indian pancakes?? Yes, we have a traditional dessert called "Malpua" (like a pancake) which is served with "Rabdi" (which acts like syrup). This is a popular indian sweet in many parts of India (especially during Karva Chauth festival) and you can still see road-side vendors prepare fresh hot malpuas (while you watch and salivate:)) and serve it with the milk-based syrup topping. I enjoyed eating it a lot! A perfect balance of sweet and cream, it is an ideal dessert for any festival, Indian or not!!

Ingredients

For the Malpuas and Sugar Syrup
1 cup maida or all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 gallon (about 1 litre) milk
1 1/2 cups water
A few strands of saffron
1 tsp cardamom powder
1/2 cup sugar
Ghee(clarified butter)or oil for frying

For the Rabdi (recipe described below)
3 cups whole milk
2 large tbsp un-sweetened condensed milk
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp rose essence
1 tbsp pistachio nuts- chopped for garnish
1 cup Rabri

Method

Make the Sugar Syrup
Now Boil the sugar and water together to make the sugar syrup. Keep stirring continuously in one direction only to form a thread-like consistency. To test that it's done, when it gets a little viscous, take a drop of syrup between your thumb and index finger and move them vertically apart to see if a thread forms. If it breaks, the syrup needs to be thickened, and if you are able to make 2 threads, you need to add a little more water to the syrup. When done, add saffron and cardamom powder to the syrup and keep it warm on very low heat.

Make the Malpuas
Mix the flour and baking powder. Now boil the milk in a thick-bottomed vessel till it reduces to half. Slowly add the thickened milk to the flour to make into a smooth thin batter, same as the pancake batter. Set aside for 5-10 mins.

Now heat a frying pan, add 1 tsp oil or ghee, take a ladle-full of the batter and make small pancakes out of it. Cook on both sides till golden brown.

Immerse them in the sugar syrup for about 2-3 mins, then place on a dish to get rid of excess syrup. You can just dip it in the syrup and remove instantly if you don't like it too sweet. Just let it coat a little.

Rabdi
Pour the milk in a saucepan and leave it on medium heat till it reduces to one fourth its original content. Add the condensed milk and keep stirring fequently to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Add sugar according to your taste. Then add the rose essence and remove from flame. let it cool completely. Garnish with chopped pistachios and keep it referigerated.

Serve the hot Malpuas with the Rabdi on the side (photo courtesy of indobase.com). You can either pour the rabdi over the malpuas or dip the latter in the rabri. Whatever way you choose to eat them, they will taste delicious, rich and creamy!! I bet this will put you in the seventh heaven!!

Dry Fruit Basundi

Rakshabandhan or "Rakhi" is a festival for brothers and sisters throughout India, though it is mainly celebrated in Western India, which signifies an eternal bond between the siblings. My brother and bhabhi (brother's wife) had invited us for lunch this sunday and luckily for us, my parents and my in-laws, both visiting us from India- were also present on this auspicious day and we had lots of food, fun and laughter!! My Bhabhi had made "Dry Fruit Basundi" for us and it was so good that I could hardly keep my eyes open after I gulped down 2 bowls full of this wonderful Indian sweet made from milk.

Dry Fruit Basundi

Ingredients
1/2 gallon whole milk
1 cup condensed milk (if using sweetened, add sugar accordingly)
1 cup crushed dry fruits (almonds, cashews, pistachios)
1 tbsp saffron (kesar)
2 tbsp warm milk (for diluting saffron)
2 tbsp cardamom powder
2 cups powdered sugar (more if you like it sweet like me!)
Chopped nuts for garnish

Method
Pour the whole milk in a large non-stick saucepan and put to boil on medium flame. Keep stirring almost continuously to prevent it from sticking to the bottom. Slowly add the condensed milk and stir to mix well.

Now add the sugar and the dry fruit powder to this and let it simmer for 30-40 mins. If cream forms on the top of milk or on the sides of the saucepan, remove this and add it to the milk. The more the milk boils, the thicker it gets and keep doing this till it turns into a light-brown color.

Meanwhile, take 2 tbsp milk, warm it in the microwave or on stove, and dissolve the saffron strands in this by rubbing with your fingers. The more you rub, the more yellowish-orange color it will give and of course, more flavour!

Now mix this into the basundi and stir to spread the color to the entire pan. Also add the cardamom powder and lower the flame and let it cook.

Once it becomes thick, remove from flame and let it cool for some time. Then referigerate it until it's time to serve.

Garnish with remaining chopped nuts and serve with puri-bhaji!!

Basundi is a traditional dessert cherished in many Indian households, and as it's easy to make, you just can't go wrong with it!!