Tag: Deepavali

Shahi Tukda | How to make quick shahi tukda?

Succulent pieces of toasted bread in sweet condensed milk rich with nuts and kesar
10/26/2016 9:18:34 PM vindhyadesai

Shahi Tukda is a famous dessert/sweet from the Mughlai cuisine. It is made using bread which is toasted lightly golden and reduced thick sweet condensed milk flavoured with elaichi and saffron is poured over these pieces. The pieces of bread absorb this decadent rich liquid and become succulent and flavourful.
This version is a quick one where bread pieces are not dunked in sugar syrup before thick milk sauce is poured over. Many recipes call for dipping toasted bread in sugar syrup to make it extra soft and moist. This will obviously make the dessert extra special. But if you are in a hurry, make this quick version.
Shahi tukda can be made ahead of time and tastes better as it chills in the refrigerator. Make this with a day’s old bread which increases its absorbing capacity. I have used homemade whole wheat bread for this recipe.
Serve this special sweet/dessert as part of your Deepavali/Diwali menu and indulge in some decadence. This sweet is truly fit for a king’s feast! Add these sweets to your list to choose from and make them this Deepavali! Why not try kalakand recipe? ... “Shahi Tukda | How to make quick shahi tukda?”

Baked Shankarpali | Baked Shakkarpare | How to make baked shankarpali?

Crisp, salty, sweet, nutty, baked shankarpali, badam-kaju & ajwain-jeera biscuits
10/23/2016 10:31:36 PM vindhyadesai

During Deepavali/Diwali, making Shankarpali/Shakkarpare snacks is very common. They are deep fried biscuits which are crisp with both salty and sweet versions. How about trying baked versions of this famous snack? Baked shankarpali are easy to make and you can change the flavours as you want. Here I have used only butter whereas some people do use vegetable shortening (dalda) which does not contain very healthy fats hence I generally never use it.
These can be made in bulk and 1 cup of all purpose flour yields a lot of biscuits. Just store these biscuits in air tight containers and they last for a few days. The base for both versions is the same. I have illustrated the base for both biscuits and then extended them into their respective flavours.
The sweet version can also be made plain without any nuts but adding almonds-cashews gives them a nice texture and flavour. The salty ones can also be made plain or even ground black pepper can be added in place of ajwain-jeera. The choice is yours! Also try benne biscuit recipe. ... “Baked Shankarpali | Baked Shakkarpare | How to make baked shankarpali?”

Carrot Halwa | How to make carrot halwa?

Juicy moist sweet carrot halwa with cashews and raisins
10/21/2016 6:45:02 PM vindhyadesai

Carrot halwa is a famous Indian sweet made from grated sweet carrots, sugar, milk, ghee all sauteed till it turns into a sweet, soft halwa. This light orange coloured sweet is loved by children and is a good way of getting children to eat some carrots. The halwa is flavoured with elaichi and along with added cashews and raisins this halwa is fit to be laid out for a feast.
This is one of those sweets where you do not have to check whether it is set or worry about making a threaded sugar syrup. The only thing to get this halwa to a soft and moist consistency is to stop sauteing it at the right time so that it is moist enough and does not dry out. The pictures below illustrate at what stage the halwa needs to stop cooking.
This will surely be a hit with everyone and is a good sweet to prepare in large quantities. It is easily portable and is a crowd pleaser. It can be served both as a sweet or dessert. Fancy it up a bit by serving with vanilla ice cream right on top. Do try more halwa and other sweet recipes from FOI. ... “Carrot Halwa | How to make carrot halwa?”

Benne Muruku | Butter Muruku | How to make benne muruku?

Crisp and crunchy snack, butter/benne muruku
10/20/2016 10:04:26 PM vindhyadesai

Crisp and crunchy benne/butter muruku has to be one of the tastiest snacks ever. It is a favourite in most households and can be made during many festivals like Ganesha Chaturthi, Sri Krishna Janmasthami and Deepavali/Diwali. In our childhood days, we used to look forward to celebrations of Deepavali/Diwali, along with buying and wearing new clothes and bursting crackers (which we no longer do for Mother Nature!) we also enjoyed eating these crunchy savoury snacks all day long! Of course along with swallowing up some sweets 🙂
Benne muruku is made from rice flour and butter as the main ingredients. Adding butter makes the muruku very crisp and light. Addition of too much butter makes them very brittle and there is a good chance that they will disintegrate while frying. So add butter with caution. Sesame seeds and carom seeds(om/ajwain) give nice flavour and aroma. Enjoy these with a cup of tea/coffee. Try other tea-time festival snacks like chivda and nippattu! ... “Benne Muruku | Butter Muruku | How to make benne muruku?”

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?”

Avalakki Chivda | Poha Chivda | How to make chivda?

Crisp spicy tea-time snack, avalakki/poha chivda
08/26/2016 9:30:34 PM vindhyadesai

Want to have something at home to munch on without worrying about calories, then chivda is your snack. Yes, it is not completely guilt-free but it is better than deep fried or sweet snacks on a daily basis. Come tea-time we all feel like eating something with our favourite beverage, chivda sounds definitely mouth-watering. This is a very famous snack from North Karnataka and Maharashtra. Nowadays, it is famous all over. Different things can be added to chivda like mixture, sev, ghatte, broken onion pakoda, roasted dry nuts etc. But the base for making avalakki/poha chivda is the same. Use medium poha/rice flakes for making chivda it gives a nice crispiness and crunch. Enjoy with your favourite cup of tea/coffee or serve with yogurt/curd (super combo!) or madike usli/matki usal (again a super combo!). It is also a preferred snack during fasting or when guests pop-over, all in all it is a versatile snack. ... “Avalakki Chivda | Poha Chivda | How to make chivda?”

Doodh Pedha | Milk Pedha | Doodh ke Pedhe | How to make soft milk pedhas | Doodh pedhas without condensed milk

A mouthful of milky fudgy goodness, soft doodh pedha
07/22/2016 8:05:28 PM vindhyadesai

A small thing of joy is to eat a doodh pedha. It is one of the most popular sweets sold in sweet shops. Imagine a big line of pedhas lined up on the other side of the counter. There are so many versions of this pedha, kesar-elaichi, elaichi, pista-kesar and so on. The ones that you get in Nandini (a milk brand in Karnataka) are pure milk pedhas. The marking on them makes the pedhas even more inviting. Try making these soft doodh pedhas at home, roll them up into small balls or pedhas/pedhe or even try and make the Nandini replicas. I used a fork to create a Nandini shop/bakery like pedha with a fork. It is actually a reverse of their shape (complementary shape). I love them nonetheless, they are milk  pedhas after all.
Here are I have used only milk and there is also a short-cut recipe with condensed milk which I will post soon. I have flavoured them with elaichi/cardamom, I wanted to make them plain this time. I sometimes add kesar/saffron or pista or both but elaichi/cardamom is something that I always add to the pedhas/pedhe. I have added a lot of pictures stepwise to show consistency in each step. ... “Doodh Pedha | Milk Pedha | Doodh ke Pedhe | How to make soft milk pedhas | Doodh pedhas without condensed milk”

Lauki Halwa | Sorekayi Halwa | Sorekayi Dumrotu

A simple homemade halwa for the sweet tooth
06/21/2016 9:56:35 PM vindhyadesai

A simple homemade halwa is very satisfying. Flavours added just from aromatic elaichi/cardamom and smooth creaminess added from milk. Lauki or bottle gourd is like butter and this halwa has an almost melt in the mouth texture. A quick fix sweet when guests are coming over. The best part is, it can be served at room temperature or even a little warm. It is soothing to the gut especially if you have eaten spicy food or feeling acidic. I have not added khoya/khova to this halwa. Dumrotu(special halwa of Karnataka) is generally made using white ashgourd but both vegetables are very similar in texture and their halwa is similar. ... “Lauki Halwa | Sorekayi Halwa | Sorekayi Dumrotu”

Kalakand

Soft moist milk sweet, a sure crowd pleaser
05/05/2016 7:18:09 PM vindhyadesai

Sweets made with milk which are soft, moist and rich are liked by most. The kind of colourful and tasty sweets lined up in a sweet shop always attracts everyone. But they can be quite expensive to buy and are mostly reserved for special occasions. But what if these kinds of sweets can be made at home with simple ingredients. One such sweet is ‘kalakand’, it is one of my favourite sweets and I absolutely love making it. They turn out to be so moist and are very fresh when made at home. They have to be made ahead of time because it needs some time to set and tastes better that way. ... “Kalakand”