Milk Peda ( Microwave)

As I told in my previous post, here is one more sweet recipe for Diwali.... Milk Peda... Made in microwave in jiff of time... If you are running out of time to make some quick sweet, this is the answer for you.. In microwave it just takes 5 mins for cooking time. But you can make on gas stove as well.. Then also it takes not more than 10-12 mins. I have used cookie cutter to make these shapes. If you don't have a cookie cutter just make a round ball  and flatten with your palms (as shown in the upper right corner picture).

Ingredients:

Milk Powder - 2 Cups

Butter (Unsalted) - 100 gms (1 stick)

Condensed Milk - 1 Can (390-405 gms)

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

Saffron (soaked in 10 ml of warm milk) - 4-5 strands

Food colour - your choice  (Optional)
Chopped / Full nuts - For decoration

How to make:

1. Melt the butter in microwave by keeping for 30 secs. Add condensed milk, milk powder and blend well. Make sure no lumps are not formed.

2. We will have to cook in microwave for 5 mins. But after every min, we have to remove and give a vigorous stir, so that it forms a smooth peda.

3. After 4th min while giving stir, add cardamom powder, milk with saffron  and keep for the last min.

4. Now you can divide the mixture and add food colour to it and mix well. To check if the consistency is right, take small quantity in hand try to make ball out it. if the ball is formed the consistency is achieved.

5. Allow it to cool down a bit and while it is warm, grease the rolling pin and roll it to the desired thickness and cut into desired shape. If you don't have a cookie cutter just make a round ball  and flatten with your palms (as shown in the upper right corner picture). You can decorate with nuts of your choice. I have used only almonds.

P.S: You can also make layers with different colors and cut into shapes (as shown in upper left corner of the picture).

Cashew Cookies

Cookies are great accompaniment snack for evening tea/coffee... Home made cookies are especially too good. Now here is one more version of cookies with cashew nut. You can substitute with almonds or walnuts as well.  These cookies were just melting in mouth and everyone loved it. By the way I had made this quite long back, but some how it got missed. So here it is...

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 1 1/4 Cup

Sugar - 1/2 Cup

Salt - 1 Pinch

Butter/Ghee - 3/4 Cup

Chopped Nuts - 1/2 Cup

How to make:

1. Mix the flour, salt and sugar well. Melt the butter/ghee and add to the flour. 

2. Using cookie cutter make different shapes. If you don't have cookies cutter, make small balls of the dough and flatten with center of your palm.

3. Place in greased baking tray. Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 mins.

Jalebi

One more sweet recipe.... Since Diwali is coming up, I'm just posting sweets and snacks recipe recently... Jalebi is one of mine and my husband's favorite sweet.... The sweet and sour taste is an awesome feeling when u eat... and the crispy texture is the highlight of the jalebi...

Ingredients:

Maida - 2 Cup

Baking Soda - 1/2 tsp

Curd - 1 Cup

Yellow / Orange food colour - 1/2 tsp (Optional)

Oil - For frying

Sugar - 1 Cup

Water - 1/2 Cup

Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tsp

Saffron - 4-5 strands

How to make:

1. Mix the flour, baking powder and curd into a batter and keep aside for 10-12 hours to ferment.
2. Pour batter into a ketchup dispensing bottle. You can make cone out of plastic covers/ zip lock bags as well.
3. To make sugar syrup: Melt the sugar and boil to get a one thread consistency. To check for one thread consistency, carefully dip the tip of your index finger into the syrup, touch your finger and thumb together and gently tease apart. If one thread is formed between your finger and thumb the syrup is done.
4. Turn off fire, add the saffron strands and cardamom and stir well.
5. Heat the oil in a deep wok-like dish. To test for the right temperature, drop a small amount of batter into the oil. If it sizzles and rises to the top of the oil, the oil is hot enough. Keep the flame on medium at all times to ensure all round cooking of the jalebis.
6. Now hold the ketchup dispenser/ cone bag over the hot oil and squeeze the batter into the oil into a randomly coiled circle. It will take couple of tries to get proper shapes.
7. Fry till light golden and then remove and put directly into the sugar syrup.
8. Allow to soak for 2-3 minutes and then remove.
9. Serve warm.

Berry Blast

Last weekend when we went to buy vegetables, we bought all kind of berries.... So I was all geared up to make drink out of it.  And there comes the berry blast with black berry and blue berry... A thick shake which is heavy and fills so much. Needless to say, very tasty too...

Ingredients:

Black Berry - 5-6 no.s
Blue Berry - 10-12 nos.
Vanilla Ice cream - 2 scoops
Milk - 250 ml
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Ice cubes - 3-4 nos.

How to make it:

1. Put all the ingredients in blender and blend it for 2-3 mins.

2. Serve it chilled.

Mixture

Diwali is coming up....   Here is one snack to make for Diwali... Making mixture is little tedious/long process, since we have to make quite a few items separately and  mix everything... And that's why its called mixture... Don't get afraid with the process, because its easy though.....

For making mixture we need, oma podi, bhoondi also...  You can refer to Boondi recipe in blog.

For making Oma Podi...

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 1 Cup
Rice Flour - 1 tbsp
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp
Omam / Ajwain - 1 tbsp
Water - 1/4 cup
Butter - 2 tbsp
Oil - for frying

How to make:

1. Sieve the gram flour, rice flour, salt and chilli powder for even mixing.

2. Dry roast the omam in a pan and soak this for 15 minutes in 1/4 cup of water. Grind this in a mixer using the soaked water. Even if it is slight coarse also ok. Using the remaining soaked water extract the omam water by mashing the ground omam with your hands, filter it using a tea strainer.

3.Use this water to mix the flour. Make a sticky dough by adding 2 tblsp of soft butter or hot oil .

4. Use the small dotted hole kuzhal, for making omapodi and keep a portion of dough inside the kuzhal/presser and start pressing it into the hot oil by making circles.  Keep the oil in medium heat otherwise it will get burnt.

5. Fry both the sides for 2-3 mins and take out in a tissue so that excess oil is absorbed in tissue.


For making Mixture...

Ingredients:

Boondi - 2  Cups
Oma podi - 2 Cups
Pressed Rice (Aval) - 1 Cup
Peanut - 1/2 Cup
Fried Bengal gram (Pottu Kadalai) - 1/2 Cup
Almonds - 1/2 Cup
Cashewnut - 1/2 Cup
Curry leaves  - 1/2 Cup
Salt - 1/4 tsp
Chili Powder - 1 tsp
Turmeric powder - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 1 tbsp (Optional)
Oil - 2 tbsp

How to make:

1. Dry roast the pressed rice(aval) in simmer for 5 mins and take in a big bowl. Add the boondi and oma podi to it.

2. In a kadai, add oil, add peanut, cashewnut, almonds, fried bengal gram curry leaves and roast in simmer for 4-5 mins. Now add the turmeric powder, salt, chili powder. Roast for another min and switch off. Add sugar and mix well.

3. Mix all these together and the mixture is ready...!!

Boondi

Boondi is one tasty snack which very tasty to smack on and on... Diwali is round the corner and I'm planning to make mixture. But to make mixture we need Boondi and oma podi also... Here is the recipe for boondi.. whether you make mixture or not, you can just make boondi and have it for all... 

Ingredients:

Besan flour - 1 Cup

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Chilli powder - 1/4 tsp

Water - 1/4 cup

Oil - for frying

How to make:

1. While adding water to the besan , first add a small amount of water and make it into a thick paste. The amount of water depends upon the texture of besan.

2. Heat oil in a kadai for deep frying. when the oil becomes hot, just pour 2 tbsp of hot oil to the batter and mix well.

3. To check whether the  consistency is right for the batter, take a spoon and with the back of the spoon mix the batter well and just hold it on the top of the hot oil.  If this forms a nice round ball then the consistency if perfect, else it gives a tail you need to add little extra water. Add 1 tblsp and check again.

4.You need 2 perforated ladle for making this. The ladle with small holes to make boondi and another one to take out the boondis from oil. Pour a ladle of batter to the perforated ladle ,keeping the ladle on the top of the oil and  let the boondis falls into the oil.

5. Fry till the oil sound subsides. Then only we can get crispy boondis. Take out from oil and drain it in a kitchen towel. 

P.S. You can add some more chili powder and fried peanuts & curry leaves to the boondi. It adds to the taste... I have not done it bcos my son can't eat spicy snacks..... 

Raspberry Cupcake (Eggless & Microwaved)

 Now its time for baking some fresh cup  cakes... Tried egg less raspberry cake... Believe me it came out so soft and fluffy.... I used silicon moulds which is so easy to use and clean.  In case you didn't get raspberry, replace it with strawberry . The seeds of raspberry gave nice crunchy taste to the cup cake.

 

Ingredients:

All purpose flour (Maida) - 1 Cup

Sugar - 1 Cup

Milk - 1/2 Cup

Melted butter - 3/4 Cup

Raspberry(crushed & pulped) - 3/4 Cup

Baking powder - 1/4 tsp

Baking soda - 1/4 tsp
Almond / Cashew flakes - 1/2 Cup (Optional)

 

How to make:

 

1. Mix the melted butter and sugar until the sugar dissolves. Now mix all other ingredients 1 by 1.

 

2. Pour the mixture in the mould to half of it, so that there is enough space to raise. In case you don't have silicon moulds, you can any ceramic or microwaveable bowls also...

 

3. Microwave it for 2 mins. Generally it will be done in 2 mins. But each microwave is different. So check if it is cooked. If not microwave it for another 30 seconds. Allow it to cool for 5-10 mins and demould it....