Kuch Khaas Hai...

We have presented you with some Indian recipes ideal for Deepavali. So check them out! It would be a good idea to save this page in your computer so that you can use it while actually cooking.

Preparation :
In a medium-sized bowl, add lime juice
to some of the milk to make paneer/chhana (cottage cheese) out of it.
Pour just enough sugar in water to prepare a thin sugar syrup.
Add the hot syrup to the chhana, blending it well.
Pour milk in a deep bottomed pan and bring it to a boil.
Next, add the condensed milk and simmer for about 2 mins. Cool till just warm.
Add the milk mixture into the channa, one spoonfull at a time.
With a spoon, stir well and blend vigorously the whole mixture. Pour all of it into a bowl.
Sprinkle on top the nuts and raisins. Refrigerate for sometime and serve chilled.



Shankarpali




Ingredients:
1 cup flour(sieved),
1 cup wheat flour(sieved),
1 cup milk,
1/2 cup water,
1/2 cup sugar(granulated),
3-4 tbsp rice flour,
1/2 cup butter(unsalted),
A pinch of common salt, table salt.
Oil (for deep frying).

Preparation :
Blend milk and water and keep to a side.
Mix butter and sugar and whip till light and fluffy. Add salt, rice flour and wheat flour. Blend well and add the milk-water mixture to it.
Knead the whole mixture to a soft dough and divide it into three balls of equal sizes. Flatten each ball into a thick chapati and cut out diamond shaped pieces off each chapati.
Deep fry each piece in hot oil. Alternatively, you can cut the rolled chapati with the help of a cookie cutter and fry till golden brown in colour.



Karanji




Ingredients :
1 cup Wheat flour
3 tablespoons Ghee
1 pinch Salt
1/2 litre Oil (for frying)
1 cup Grated coconut
3 1/4 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Milk
Few Almonds
Few Raisins
1/2 teaspoons Cardamom powder
1 tablespoon Poppy seeds

Preparation :
In a mixing bowl combine the salt, flour and ghee. Mix and knead well. Gradually add water and knead to form a firm dough.
Cover with wet cloth and set aside. This process will help the dough to become soft.
For the Stuffing.
Cook grated coconut (use fresh or dried), sugar, milk, chopped almonds and raisins, cardamom powder, and poppy seeds (optional) till the milk evaporates.
Divide the dough into 20-25 sections, roll them out into flat round pancakes.
Place a spoon of stuffing at the centre and fold the pancake in half.
Use a cutter to create the fluted crescent border and cut off excess dough.
Seal the edges by applying a little milk and pressing down hard.
After all the karanjis are stuffed, fry them in very hot oil for 2-3 minutes or till golden brown, remove onto paper towels and allow them to cool.
Serve after fridging them for sometime, or in room temperature.



Gajar ka Halwa




Ingredients :
450 grams Sugar or equilavant sweetner
1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds
3/4 cup Water
3 tablespoons Ghee
2 tablespoons Raisins
2 tablespoons Almonds
2 tablespoons Pistachios
1 kg Carrots
1 litre Milk
1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds
3/4 cup Water
3 tablespoons Ghee
2 tablespoons Raisins
2 tablespoons Almonds
2 tablespoons Pistachios
450 grams Sugar

Preparation :
Wash and grate the carrots into fine shreads.
Soak the raisins in water for 30 minutes. Blanch and shred the nuts.
Put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the grated carrots. Cook for 5-7 minutes.
Add the milk. Cook on a low flame for 1 hour stirring occasionally. Make sure that the bottom doesn't stick to the pan.
Add sugar/sweetner, mix well and cook till it dissolves fully and all the milk is absorbed.
Add ghee and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the slightly crushed cardamoms and the raisins.
Mix well. Remove from heat and arrange in a serving dish.
Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve cold, hot or at room temperature.



Badam Phirni




Ingredients :
12 nos. Almonds
4 tablespoons Rice flour
21/2 cups Milk
5 tablespoons Sugar/sweetner
8 strands Saffron
1 teaspoon Cardamom powder

Preparation :
Blanch and grind the almonds to a fine paste with 1/2 cup milk.
Mix together the ground almond paste and rice flour.
Bring the milk to a boil. Add the sugar and stir till the sugar dissolves.
Dissolve the saffron separately in a spoonful or two of hit milk.
Add the almond-rice mixture into the boiling milk along with the saffron-milk mixure.
Stir continuously for a few mintues till the milk thickens and attains a custard-like consistency.
Sprinkle in the cardamom powder. Stop the flame, and allow to cool.
Pour into individual bowls, garnish with almonds and pistachios and refrigerate.
Serve chilled.



Kheer




Ingredients :
1/4th cup Long grain Rice (washed and drained)
4-5 cups Milk
2-3 cardamom seeds (crushed)
2 tbsp. almonds (blanched silvered)
A pinch of saffron threads, soaked in a little hot milk
1 tbsp skinned pistachio nuts (chopped)
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
2-3tbsp. sugar or as desired

Preparation :
Put the rice, milk and cardamom in a pan, bring to boil and simmer gently until the rice is soft and the grains are starting to break up.
Add almonds, pistachio, saffron and raisins and simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
Remove from heat and serve either warm or chilled.



Rasmalai




Ingredients :
2 lbs Cows Milk or Ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar or sweetner
32 oz half & half milk
A pinch of saffron
1/4 tsp crushed cardamom seeds
1/2 cup blanched almonds
2 tbsp crushed green pistachios

Preparation :
Mix the cheese with sugar and little cardamom powder and spread out on a baking tray.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until it thicken and sets down. It should not get brown.
Remove from oven, cool at room temperature and cut into small squares. Place them in a dessert bowl.
Mix the other ingredients, except the pistachios well in a separate dish and pour over the squares.
Decorate with pistachios, chill for 2-3 hours and then serve.



Doodh Peda




Ingredients :
1/2 kg khoya. Khoya is made by reducing a large volume of milk to a solid by very slow boiling for many hours; about 3 litres of milk will produce hardly 200-300 gms of khoya.
250 gms ground sugar
250 gms milk
2 drops rose essence or a few strands saffron or kesar
2 tbsp almonds, finely slivered
2 tbsp pistachios, finely slivered
1 tsp green cardamoms or elaichi powder

Preparation :
Mix the khoya and sugar well, and warm it over a medium fire. Add 2 tablespoons of the milk and stir with a heavy ladle smoothening out any lumps. Continue stirring and add more milk, little by little, till all the milk is used up. Lower the heat, if it sticks at the bottom.
Add the rose essence or saffron dissolved in milk, and take off the fire. Mix the flavouring and khoya properly.
In a plate, mix the finely slivered nuts with the cardamom or elaichi powder. Make small balls of the khoya mixture and press on the nuts for decoration. You can also make depressions along the edges with a spoon handle or other stamp moulds for surface designs.



Chocolate Chip Cookies




Ingredients :
Unsalted butter- 175 gms
Brown sugar- 250 gms
Grain sugar- 125 gms
Eggs- 2
Refined Flour- 275 gms
Baking Soda- 1 Teaspoon
Chopped Chocolate- 175 gms
Chopped nuts- 125 gms
Cream the butter and sugar together.
Add the eggs little by little

Preparation :
Sift together the flour and the baking soda. Add the nuts and chopped chocolate to the sifted flour.
When almost all the sugar has dissolved, add the flour mixture, and knead it lightly into dough.
Shape the dough into logs of about 1 inch diameter on a lightly dusted work surface.
Place the logs in the fridge for firming up. Now grease a baking tray and after the logs are firm , start cutting them into 3 mm thickness. Arrange it on the tray.
Bake it in a preheated oven at 180 degree centigrade for 8 minutes and then turn the side of the tray. Bake for 3 more minutes.
Now you can serve the oven fresh cookies to any of the guests, n 15 minutes!!! Just have to cut and bake the cokies whenever you want too!!
Spread the happiness around, the joy of Diwali!!!!




Kaju Barfi





Ingredients :
2 cups Sugar
1/2 cup Water
3 1/4 cups Cashew powder
Silver foil
1/2 cup Cashewnuts

Preparation :
Pour enough sugar in water to prepare a sugar syrup of about 2 thread consistency.
Then dissolve cashew powder in the sugar syrup to make the whole solution thick.
Next, spread the thick solution on a plate. Cover it with some of the silver foil. Your barfi is ready. Let it dry and harden under the foil cover.
Then cut barfi into pieces. Sprinkle some cashewnuts atop to garnish.
Keep your Kaju barfi in the refrigerator to chill for sometime. Then serve this sweet delicacy and sweeten up the diwali evening for your near ones.



Malpua




Ingredients :
1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups wheat flour
4 tbsp yogurt or curd
10-15 whole peppercorns
Milk
Water

Preparation :
Make a batter of all of these dry ingredients and the dahi, using 1/2 milk and 1/2 water till it is thick and of pouring consistency, similar to pancake or dosa batter. And whip till smooth. Add the 10 peppercorns. Keep aside and allow it to rise for about two hours.
Heat oil on a medium flame. Drop large ladlefuls into the oil to form circles of 6-8 inches. Typically the dough will sink and line the bottom of the karhai and rise up in the shape of a disc. Fry till golden. Drain and pat off the oil.
Serve with cream or garnished with pista. Serves five.

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