Carrot Halwa

Time Required -

45 minutes

To Serve -

6 cups

Ingredients –

1. Carrot– 1 kg – grated
2. Milk – 1/2 cup
3. Elaichi(Cardamom) – 3
4. Dry fruits – 1/4 cup (mix of raisins and cashew)
5. Sugar – 200 grams
6. Ghee – 2 Tbsp
7. Khoa (dried whole milk) – 100 grams

Preparation -

1) Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a kadai.  Add grated carrot to the same and cook for 5 minutes in closed lid.

2) Now when the carrot is almost shrinking, add milk and cook for another 10 minutes.  Keep medium flame and keep stirring.

3) Add sugar and cardamom to the same and mix well.  Sugar has the tendency to leave lot of water.  Cook till the water evaporates. 

4) Add khoa and mix again.  Cook for another 2 minutes and off the stove. 

5) In a different small kadai, heat ghee and fry the dry fruits in the same.  Add this to the carrot halwa and mix well.

Serve it medium hot!  Also a good combination with ice-cream…

Annada Payasa

Time Required -

30 minutes

To Serve -

6 cups

Ingredients –

1. Basmathi rice – 1 cup
2. Milk – 1 litre
3. Elaichi(Cardamom) – 3
4. Dry fruits – 1/4 cup (mix of raisins, cashew, pista and badam)
5. Sugar – 200 grams
6. Ghee – 3 tsp
7. Kesari (saffron) – one pinch

Preparation –

1) Cook basmati rice and keep aside (You can choose to cook the same in pressure cooker.  For 1 cup of basmati rice, add 1 cup of water for cooking it well)

2) Heat a kadai and boil milk in the same.  Once, the milk is about to spill, add sugar and elaichi.  Keep stirring the mixture in medium flame until the milk reduces by 30%.

3) Now, add cooked rice and pinch of kesari and mix well.

4) In a small kadai, heat ghee and fry dry fruits in the same.  Once they turn golden, add the same to the payasa.

Serve it mild hot   Its just too yummy!!!

Shavige Payasa

Time Required -

30 minutes

To Serve -

6 cups

Ingredients –

1. Vermicelli – 100 grams
2. Milk – 1 litre
3. Elaichi(Cardamom) – 1
4. Cashews – 8 (cut to pieces)
5. Raisins – 8-10
6. Sugar – 200 grams
7. Ghee – 1 Tbsp
8. Salt – one small pinch
9. Kesari (saffron) – one pinch

Preparation –

1) Add vermicelli to a bowl of boiling water and cook adequately.  Strain the water and keep aside

2) Heat a kadai and boil milk in the same.  Once, the milk is about to spill, add sugar and elaichi.  Keep stirring the mixture in medium flame until the milk reduces by 30%.

3) Now, add vermicelli and a pinch of salt to the same and keep stirring the same.  Add a pinch of kesari and mix well.

4) In a small kadai, heat ghee and fry cashews and raisins in the same.  Once they turn golden, add the same to the payasa.

You can choose to either serve it cold or luke warm…

Ghondu Maddu

Gondu Maddu is a medicinal sweet ladoos made to strengthen the lower back of women.  This is usually given to girls when they mature for the first time, after delivering baby or even after an abortion.  This maddu is extremely helpful in cleansing the uterus and strengthening the lower back.  Usual prescription is of one ladoo everyday for 30 days.

In India, this particular dish has multiple regional variations… The one below is with a mangalore touch

Time required –

  1.5 hours

Ingredients –

1. Ashvagandha (Withania somnifera) – 50 grams
2. Ghondu (Ayurvedic Gum) – 300 grams
3. Khus Khus (Poppy seeds) – 150 grams
4. Ghee – 1 litre
5. Ututte (Dried dates) – 500 grams (cut to small pieces)
6.  Badam (Almond) – 250 grams (cut to small pieces)
7. Drakshi (Raisins) – 500 grams
8. Sugar – 1.5 kg (powder the same)
9. Japathre – 5 piece (Dont know the english or hindi version of this.  Its one of the masala which is shaped like a flower)
10. Jayikayi(Nutmeg) – 1 piece
11. Lavanga (Cloves) – 20 piece
12. Kesari (saffron) – 1 pinch  – optional

  Preparation –

1) Fry ghondu in ghee until it blooms and strain it on a tissue paper.  Now, powder the same by grinding

2) Fry raisins, almond and dried dates in ghee and keep aside.

3) Grind ashvagandha, japathre, jayikayi, lavanga into powder and keep aside.

4) Heat a kadai and add powdered sugar in the same.  Once it starts melting, add fried dry fruits, ghondu powder and ground powder and mix well for 2-3 minutes

5) Add ghee to the same and keep stirring for 5 minutes till it becomes a thick paste.  Off the stove and make 2 inch balls of the same.

Store it in a dry, air tight box once the ladoos are cooled.  While women it for health… the rest of the family can enjoy the rich taste…

Pudding

     

Time Required –  

4 hours 

To Serve –  

4 

 Ingredients –   

• Sweet bread – 6 to 7 slices
• Sugar – 250 grams
• Milk – 3/4 litre
• Choice of dry fruits – 100 grams
• Choice of fruits – 250 grams
• Vanilla custard powder – 3 to 4 tsp
• Marie biscuit – 7 to 8

 

Preparation - 

1) Mix around 50 grams of sugar with 1 cup of mix and keep aside. 

2) Take a microwave and refrigeration safe, rectangular bowl.  Cut the bread into small pieces and make it a thick base of the pudding.  Sprinkle one cup of sweetened milk on it. 

3) Powder the marie biscuit and put 3/4th of it as the second layer.  

4) Now add cut fruits as the third layer.  Sprinkle rest of the biscuit powder on this. 

5) Now add dry fruits of your choice as the fourth layer and keep the bowl aside.  

6) In a separate small vessel, mix custard with 1/2 glass of milk and make it into smooth paste.  

7) Mix milk and sugar in a kadai and heat it till it starts boiling.  Once it boils, lower the flame and mix the custard paste to it.  Keep stirring.  The custard will thicken in less than a minute.  Off the gas and pour this to the pudding tray evenly.  This is the last layer. 

8) Allow the ingredients to cool down and settle for 30 minutes.  Now, you can decorate the top of the pudding with almonds or cashews and refrigerate it for 3 hours. 

In case you choose to keep it in the freezer; remove the pudding around 30 minutes before you want to serve it.  The most suited choice of dry fruits can include any one or mix of  - 

• Almonds
• Walnuts
• raisins
• Dates
• Cashew

The most suited choice of fruits can include any one or mix of  - 

• Banana
• Seedless grapes
• Papaya
• pomegranate
• Chikku (Sapota)
• Mango
• Pineapple
• Apple
• Custard Apple

Basundi

Time Required –

2 hours

To Serve –

4 to 6 people

Ingredients –

• Milk - 1.5 litres
• Fresh cream – 1 cup
• Sugar – 200 grams
• Badam and Pista grates – handful
• Elaichi(Cardamom) – 2 to 3

Preparation –

1) Put milk in a kadai and bring it to boil.  Now, reduce the flame and boil the milk further to condense it.  Keep stirring regularly.

2) Once the milk has reduced to half of its initial quantity, add sugar, powdered cardamom and mix well.  Keep stirring the mixture and condense the contents in the kadai by another 20%

3) Now add a cup of fresh cream and mix well.  Switch off the stove after 2 to 3 minutes and add pista-badam grates.

4) Refrigerate the same for 1 hour minimum after the mixture cools.

Alternatively, you can add few kesar strings instead of elaichi. The flavor is finally your choice.   This is just too good a desert and very easy to make as well.

Mysore Pak

This receipe is dedicated to my dear friend Sneha and her husband Pawan. This is for their first Ugadi celebrations after their wedding… modala hosa varsha for them in Indian terms…

Time Required -

20 minutes

To Serve -

2

Ingredients -

1. Gram floor(Besan) – 1 cup
2. Sugar – 2 cups
3. Ghee – 2 cups
4. Water – 3/4 th cup
5. Cardomom – 2 to 3

Preparation –

1) Heat half cup of ghee in a kadai and mix the besan well with it. With a help of a table spoon, ensure that there are no knots formed in the floor. Keep the flame low.

2) As the floor starts to spell and just changes its colour, add little ghee and 2 cups of sugar to the same. Keep stirring the mixture in medium flame.

3)Keep adding 2 tsps of ghee every 2-3 minutes and continue stirring in medium flame.

4) At the end of 15 to 20 minutes of this process, you will see that this mixture is now leaving the sides of the kadai. The colour would have also comparitively darkened.

5) Spread ghee in a tray(it should have good side width and possess just enough length to hold the mixture) and pour this mixture into the tray. Do not press or do anything with the sweet. If you want to spread it evenly, just do so by patting the sides of the tray.

6) Add finely ground cardomum powder on the top of the sweet.

7) Cut it into rectangular shaped blocks after 3-5 minutes of putting it into the tray. Remove the same from the tray once it is cold.

This happens to be a hot favourite of my family as well. Do enjoy the goodness of the festive season with a simple sweet.

Carrot Payasa

Time Required -

30 minutes

To Serve -

6 glasses

Ingredients –

1. Carrot – 1/2 kg
2. Milk – 1/2 litre
3. Cashews – 8 (soaked in water for 15 minutes)
4. Almonds – 10 (soaked in water for 15 minutes)
5. Sugar – 23 tea spoons

Preparation -

1) Cut carrot into half and boil it.

2) Grind boiled carrot, sugar, cashews, pealed almonds together into a paste. Can use little water for the same.

3) Mix milk with this paste and heat it until it boils. Keep stirring continuously.

This payasa can be served both hot and cold. In North India, they also call this as Carrot Kheer. Enjoy!