Category: Sweet

Kaju Katli | How to make kaju katli? | Cashew Barfi

Nutty, fudgy, everyone’s favourite with the goodness of cashews, kaju katli
10/18/2016 10:21:39 PM vindhyadesai

Deepavali/Diwali is just round the corner. I started preparing for it over the weekend and with only a few days to go I have recipes lined for Deepavali to be posted on FOI. Kaju Katli or cashew barfi is the most loved sweet both by kids and adults. This is the safest bet when distributing sweets as most people love it! I am no exception to that and I can eat many of these in one day, just chew them all up (I try not to though :)). It seems like a very complicated recipe to make but with only a few ingredients it can be one of the most easiest sweets to make if you get the consistency right. Follow stepwise to ensure you get the right consistency right from making the cashew powder to making sugar syrup to the dough consistency. More Deepavali recipes and festival recipes for you try! Happy preparation for the festival of lights! Let’s begin on a sweet note. ... “Kaju Katli | How to make kaju katli? | Cashew Barfi”

Kayi Holige | Kayi Obbattu | Nariyal PoLi | Coconut Holige | How to make kayi obbattu?

Soft and crunchy sweet coconut/kayi holige, a special dish for the festivals
10/10/2016 10:28:16 PM vindhyadesai

Wish you all a very happy Vijayadashami/Dasara! Coconut holige/kayi obbattu/nariyal poLi is one of my favourite sweets. It is soft yet crunchy on the outside and it has the unmistakable flavour of coconut. Unlike many other dishes where coconut gets lost in between other ingredients, here it is the main ingredient and it gets due importance. Most functions in Karnataka have holige/obbattu/poLi as the main sweet. Usually beLe holige or this kayi holige steal the show and are made in the order of hundreds. They are made with maida/all purpose flour which can make the edges quite hard and the filling inside might not be sufficient to make them soft yet crunchy. I always try and make recipes with whole wheat flour, for the fibre, taste and it makes the holige so much more softer and they hold together beautifully. Make these and a few can be made quite quickly and is not all that difficult. ... “Kayi Holige | Kayi Obbattu | Nariyal PoLi | Coconut Holige | How to make kayi obbattu?”

Gasa Gase Payasa | Khus Khus Kheer | Poppy Seeds Payasam | How to make gasa gase payasa?

Cooling, easy on the stomach gasa gase payasa
10/04/2016 9:48:35 PM vindhyadesai

Gasa-gase or poppy seeds or khus-khus are pungent oil seeds which give a very unique flavour to dishes. It can be added to breads, to gravies or in our very own Karnataka cuisine it is made into a payasa (liquid sweet). It is not as thick as usual payasa/payasams/kheer. It is liquidy and can be consumed as a beverage. Gasa-gase payasa has unique cooling properties, along with the gasa-gase seeds, it has jaggery (bella/gur), cardamom (elaichi), coconut milk (or grated coconut) and milk. It is a must have dessert during festivals in Karnataka. Along with bisi-bele-bhaat this is a delicacy and is consumed warm/cool as a beverage during or after lunch. This dish has a special mention in wiki under Indian cuisine. This is frequently made by my MIL and I learnt this recipe from her. She generally adds desiccated coconut (kobbri/copra), here I have added coconut milk. Sometimes I add grated and ground coconut. The little raisins pop in the mouth when drinking this unique payasa and it tastes great! This is a light sweet for ongoing Navratri festivities. ... “Gasa Gase Payasa | Khus Khus Kheer | Poppy Seeds Payasam | How to make gasa gase payasa?”

Ice Cream Cake | Raspberry Swiss Roll Ice-cream Cake

Fun-filled, ice cream filled, decadent, indulgent ice cream cake
9/09/2016 7:22:33 PM vindhyadesai

Is it a cake, is it ice cream? As the name says, it is ice cream cake. Ice cream filled into a cake base and frozen back to solid. This is recipe number 100, a big milestone for Food Of Interest. Thank you to all those who have liked Food Of Interest and for trying out my recipes. It is my humble effort to try out and document Vegetarian/Vegan recipes from India and all over the world. This decadent, indulgent ice cream cake is adapted from Chef Lorraine Pascale‘s ‘Indulgent Ice Cream Cake’. It has a Swiss roll cake base (plain cake with layers of jam or marmalade all rolled into a tight roll) and vanilla ice cream filling. Use Swiss roll cake if you get it or try homemade one (recipe will be posted on FOI), or use regular Pound cake for the base. Layering a bowl with cling wrap is very essential for the cake to be inverted from the bowl and that resembles a half-spherical cake. More details in the recipe below. Please do share recipes from FOI, try them out and leave feedback on the website in ‘Comments’ section and don’t forget to ‘Rate’ the recipes on the website! 🙂 ... “Ice Cream Cake | Raspberry Swiss Roll Ice-cream Cake”

Haalbai | Akki Haalbai | How to make haalbai?

Soft, fudgy rice and coconut milk barfis
9/05/2016 4:27:39 PM vindhyadesai

Ganesha Chaturthi is a 3 or 5 or 10 day long festival for some people. If you celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi for more than one day, it is mandatory to make at least one sweet dish as offering/naivedya to Lord Ganesha. After making sweets like holige (poli), kadubu or other traditional ones from sweets list one will need a recipe that is simple, easy and light on the stomach. Haalbai is one such recipe, soaked rice ground into a thick batter with coconut milk lightly flavoured with elaichi it is a super easy sweet to make. It does not need resting time after preparing. Just plan to soak rice a few hours before making this sweet. Only water can also be used in place of coconut milk but coconut milk adds a subtle taste and makes haalbai pliable because of the oils in it. If you want to keep this vegan use vegetable oil in place of desi ghee. ... “Haalbai | Akki Haalbai | How to make haalbai?”

Bele Obbattu | Bele Holige | Puranpoli | How to make holige?

Filling and delicious sweet dal stuffed poli/holige for festivals
09/01/2016 06:27:09 PM vindhyadesai

Bele Holige or obbattu is one of the most filling and delicious sweets. It is a sweet dal stuffed poli/holige. During a festival or a function we all look for one dish that can feed a big crowd which is also filling. Sweets generally are accessories in a big spread. Yes, preparing bele holige or obbattu is effort but when you have mastered the process of making the dal filling then preparing bele holige or obbattu will be easy especially if you have a few people to assist/work with you.
I have used whole wheat flour/atta for the outer covering dough whereas generally all purpose flour (maida) and chiroti rava (fine rava) are used to prepare the dough along with a pinch of turmeric. I prefer whole wheat flour(learnt it from my mother), holige turn out to be soft and do not become stretchy and chewy when they are kept for a while.
*Updated with new pictures for Ugadi 2019. Try more holige recipes:
Kayi Holige/Coconut Holige
Dry Nuts Holige
 ... “Bele Obbattu | Bele Holige | Puranpoli | How to make holige?”

Shenga chikki | Kadalebeeja chikki | Peanut brittle | Groundnut chikki

Bakery style homemade chikki – to satisfy the sweet tooth
08/25/2016 10:15:47 PM vindhyadesai

A sudden craving for a sweet! How about something sweet which also exercises the teeth! Homemade chikki, ‘brittle’ as it is called in western desserts. Wishing everyone a happy Sri Krishna Janmashtami. I wanted to post all recipes a few days before the festival but because of an unscheduled maintenance on the website I had to move them to post today. Chikki is made with roasted peanuts, pistachios or almonds (badam) or any kind of hard dry nuts. It is made by caramelizing sugar or jaggery and the roasted nuts are quickly stirred in and left to cool and then broken into chikkis or brittles. Childhood favourite for many, one could buy these for a small amount and savour them while returning from school. Try other favourite bakery style items at home. ... “Shenga chikki | Kadalebeeja chikki | Peanut brittle | Groundnut chikki”

Apple Strudel – An Austrian speciality dessert

Flaky and crispy layers with juicy apples served with a homemade custard
08/20/2016 4:22:11 PM vindhyadesai

Thin puff pastry layers with crunch of sugar and juicy fragrant apples baked inside, served with custard and vanilla ice cream, sounds like a great combination for an indulgent dessert. This dessert is a speciality dish from Austria very famously made in one of its cities, Vienna. So here is Dish 6 from the World Cuisine Series from Austria. It is a pastry based dessert made with apples, puff pastry and other dry nuts. Strudel apparently is a word from German language. Traditionally, homemade strudel is a rolled pastry with fillings inside. The first time I tried it, I made it in the traditional way (few photos included from v1). The next time I tried it I made it into a cross between a French apple galette and an Austrian apple strudel, looks exotic and is super scrumptious. This is a very decadent dessert, go easy on the portions but enjoy it once in a while. ... “Apple Strudel – An Austrian speciality dessert”

Vanilla Ice cream | Eggless Vanilla Ice cream | No cook vanilla ice cream | Homemade vanilla ice cream

Super creamy homemade favourite eggless vanilla ice cream
08/09/2016 8:29:13 PM vindhyadesai

I have not met a single soul who does not like ice cream especially vanilla ice cream. It has to be one of the most eaten, desired and versatile desserts in the world. Make ice cream at home without worries of added preservatives, artificial flavours and colours. This recipe does not involve any cooking at all. There is no need of making a custard for this recipe. The most important thing is to keep all ingredients and your ice cream container chilled and cold at all times to prevent crystal formation and solidfication during churning/blending.
I have used my ice cream machine to churn the ice cream mixture. But it can be very easily churned with a simple everyday use electric hand blender which I will describe below. It is a little extra effort when using an electric blender but worth it nonetheless. I do not have to mention the uses of vanilla ice cream, it is super tasty just plain, or with chocolate brownies or simply whipped up into a milkshake like musk melon vanilla milkshake or this decadent peach and blueberry crumble. Oh boy! Super creamy vanilla ice cream! Enjoy! ... “Vanilla Ice cream | Eggless Vanilla Ice cream | No cook vanilla ice cream | Homemade vanilla ice cream”

Kuchida Kadubu | Khara Kadubu | Sihi Kadubu | Steamed rice dumplings with fillings

Steamed traditional rice kadubu/dumplings wih spicy and sweet fillings
08/07/2016 2:04:13 PM vindhyadesai

A special dish for Naga Panchmi. Traditional rice dumplings with both spicy and sweet fillings. Spicy filling is a mixture of ground dal with different spices and masala. Sweet filling is made from grated coconut and jaggery with elaichi as the flavour. Outer covering is made using rice flour or ground rice paste. Here I have used rice flour. These kadubu/dumplings are very filling and makes a very good dish to make for a festival. The kadubu/dumplings are made and then steamed for a few minutes covered in leaves. I have used parchment paper as I cannot procure banana or turmeric leaves easily around here. ... “Kuchida Kadubu | Khara Kadubu | Sihi Kadubu | Steamed rice dumplings with fillings”