Banana Halwa - Recipe to surprise your sudden visitors.

A simple and easy to make sweet when there are excess bananas available at home.


Ingredients:
Banana - 6 nos (ripe)
Sugar - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Cashews - 8 nos

Method:
Mash the bananas thoroughly (If needed can also be blended in a blender without adding water).

In a hard bottom pan add the mashed bananas, 4 tbsp of ghee and sugar and stir constantly till mixture bubbles and turns to a nice brown colour. Add the cardamom powder and mix well. Add the remaining ghee and when the mixture leaves the sides of the pan and when it is able to roll into a ball, it can be removed from flame. Spread on a ghee smeared plate and let it cool. Cut into square or diamond shaped pieces.

Heat 1 tbsp of ghee and fry the cashew nuts. Decorate each piece with one fried cashewnut piece.

Cashew Chikki

Ingredients:
Cashew nuts - whole 1 1/2 cups or about 250 gms.
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Sugar - 1 cup

Method:
Take a flat surface - chappati stone or any marble surface and coat it with ghee. Coat the roller pin also with ghee.

Put the cashew nuts in a plastic bag and crush it slowly either with the help of a chappati roller or with any small flat stone. This will help the cashewnuts to break evenly. Heat a flat bottom pan and add 2 tbsp of ghee to it. Add the sugar when the ghee melts. Let the sugar melt and turn to a honey color (caramelize sugar). Put off the flame and add the broken cashew nut pieces and mix well with a spoon. (mixing should be done as fast as possible). Transfer it immediatly to the ghee coated surface and roll it with chappati roller pin. Cut it into square cubes.

Store it in an air tight container.

Kapparisi - A must during Punyakavachanam

During the naming ceremony of a new born, this is made by the aunt of the baby. After the baby is named, this is distributed to all.


Ingredients:
Raw rice - 2 cps
Roasted Peanuts - 1/4 cup
Processed Channa Dal (Pottukadalai, Dalia)-1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 tsp
Finely chopped coconut pieces - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 cup
Ghee - 1 tbsp

Method:
Wash and soak rice in water for about 15 mins. Strain and spread over a clean cloth. After 15 to 20 mins roast it in a dry pan till it turns light pink in colour. Roast peanuts and processed channa dal in a dry pan, till it becomes slightly golden in colour. In 1/2 tbsp of ghee fry the coconut pieces till the aroma is released.

Grind the rice to 1/2 (do not over run the mixer and make it a powder). This can also be made even without making the rice to rawa consistency. Mix peanuts, processed channa dal, coconuts, cardamom powder in a shallow bowl.

Make Jaggery syrup and pour it on top of the mixture and mix thoroughly. Cool and store it. This can be stored for about a week.

How to make Jaggery syrup for Jaggery based sweets

Ingredients:
Jaggery (Pagu vareity) - 1 cup
Water - 1 cup

Method:
In a deep pan add 1 cup of water and jaggery and keep stirring till sugar dissolves completely. Bring it to a boil. When it boils remove from flame and strain to remove all the impurities. Boil again till either one string or two string consistency is reached.

How to check one string or two consistency?
   When the jaggery syrup is dropped from a height, it have to flow freely like a string and should not fall down as a lump.

   Two strings should fall down for two string consistency.

For making groundnut balls or broken gram balls or Karthigai Pori Urundai or Kaaparisi the following consistency have to be reached:
   The syrup should be the consistency of a ball. It should make a sound when dropped into a plate, or when dropped into a cup of water, it should not stick to the bottom.

If candy thermometer is used, the measurement should read around 240 to 250 deg F.

Recipe to make Apple Burfi

Apple is one fruit that almost all like the most. Just like the way we make Mango Halwa we can make burfi out of Apples.

Ingredients:
Apple - 2 to 3 nos (depending upon the size)
Pineapple - 1 no
Sugar - 3 cups
Ghee - 1/4 cup

Method:
       Make a fine pulp out of apple which should be equal to 1 cup. Make pulp out of pineapple equal to 1/2 cup. Add these two pulps along with sugar to a hard bottom pan. Keep stirring in moderate heat till the pulp getts thicker. When thick add ghee little by little till the pulp starts coming out of the sides of the pan. Pour the mixture to a ghee smeared plate. When cold cut into pieces.

Note: Can be decorated with pista pieces. And if it is been served for a party then can be decorated with finely chopped pieces of apple and pineapple too.

Shankarapalli - A sweet tea time snack

Shankarapalli is a triangle shaped tea time snack which can be made very very easily in about 20 to 30 mins.

Ingredients:
Maida - 3 1/2 cups
Milk - 1 1/2 cup
Sugar - 2 cups
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Ghee - 3/4th cup
Oil to fry

Method:
Seive the maida to avoid forming lumps. In a hard bottom pan add ghee, sugar and milk and boil it. When the mixture starts boiling remove from flame and let it cool.

Mix the seived maida to the above mixture slowly and making a dough out of it. The dough have to be stiff enough to make be able to make chappatis out of it.

Divide the dough into equal parts and make balls out of it. Heat oil in a kadai and when hot reduce the flame to medium. Make chappatis out of the balls (the chappatis should not be very thin). Cut the chappatis with a knife or shankarapalli cutter into square or diamond shape. Fry it in oil in the medium heat itself. Keep turning it till it becomes golden brown in colour.

Note: If the sugar is very sweet, reduce the quantity by half cup.

How to make Thirattupal in Microwave

Ingredients:

Condensed Milk - 1 tin (500 ml)

Curd - 1 tsp

Sugar or Jaggery - 1 cup

Method:

In a deep microwave vessel, add the condensed milk (donot add water). Add the curd and mix well. 

Keep the container in micro high for 2 mins. Remove and stir well. Repeat the process twice. By this time, the milk would have thickened even more, keep it for one more minute in microwave and if it is thick enough, add sugar or jaggery, if not keep it again for a min. By this time, the mixture would have become pink in colour. 

Now add the sugar or jaggery and mix thoroughly and microwave it for one more min in micro high. Remove and let it cool and store it.

Recipe for Thirattupaal

This is one of the method to make Thirattupal. A traditional sweet of Tamilnadu, which is one of the main sweets that is to be kept in seer during any functions and festivals.

Ingredients:

Full Cream Milk - 1 ltr

Sugar - 2 cups

Method: 

Heat milk in a deep non-stick pan. When the milk boils reduce the flame and keep stirring occasionally. When the milk gets reduced to half add sugar to it and stir to make the sugar dissolve completely. 

Keep stirring till the paste thickens again and turns pink in colour. Remove from flame and when cool, store it in airtight container.

Note: Instead of sugar, jaggery can also be used to give more taste.

How to make Khoya at home

Many sweet dishes, especially north Indian dishes ask for Khoya in the recipe. It is good if it is made at home. Both sweet and unsweetened khoya can be prepared at home.

In a hard bottom pan, add one litre of fresh cream milk or whole cream milk and keep it on a high flame stirring occassionally, till the milk gets reduced. Once about 85% of the moisture in the milk is gone, remove from flame and let it cool. Store it in airtight container and use it to make Kajjar ka halwa, Cashew Peda etc.

Care should be taken that the milk does not get burnt. To ensure that the milk does not get burned, a shallow non-stick pan can be used. The whole process can take about 2 to 2.5 hours

Badam Burfi|Almond Burfi

Very quick and easy to make sweet, if the ingredients are kept ready.

Ingredients:
Badam (Almond) - 250 gms
Ghee - 1 cup
Condensed milk - 1 tin (250 ml)
Milk - 1/5th cup
Sugar - 1/4 cup (optional)

Method:
Soak Badam in hot water for about 10 to 15 mins. Peel the skin and grind it to a fine paste along with sugar and milk. Heat ghee in a hard bottom pan. Mix condensed milk and badam paste together and add it to the hot ghee. Keep stirring till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan.

Pour it on a ghee smeared plate and let it cool. Cut into diamond shapes or square shapes.

Wheat Halwa - A very easy to make sweet recipe

One of the simplest sweet that can be made very easily.

Ingredients:

Wheat flour - 1 cups

Sugar - 2 cups

Ghee - 1 1/2 cups

Cashew Nuts - 10 to 12 nos

Cardamom - 6 to 8 nos

Water - 2 cups

Method:

Fry Wheat flour in 1/4 cup of ghee. When fried nicely add a little more ghee and make it paste. In the mean time heat 2 cups of water, bring it to boil. In a hard bottom pan add the fried wheat and water and make it a fine paste. Add the sugar to it and bring it to boil. Add cardamom powder to it and mix well. Keep stirring and keep adding the remaining ghee. Add the fried cashew nuts to it. When it turns glassy remove from fire and spread on a ghee greased plate. 

Maa Laadoo|Moong Dal Laadoo

Maa Ladoo can be made either using Fried Dal or Moong Dal. 

Ingredients:
Moong Dal - 1 cup

Sugar - 3/4th cup

Ghee - 1/2 cup

Cashew nuts - 20 nos

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp (made from 4 to 6 cardamoms)

Method:

Fry Moong dal till it turns golden brown. When cool grind it to a very fine powder. (If it is not obtained, sieve and grind again). Grind sugar to make sugar powder. Mix moong dal powder and sugar together. Add cardamom powder to it and mix well. 

In 2 tbsp of ghee fry cashewnuts after breaking it into pieces. Add it to the dal flour and mix thoroughly.

Heat the remaining ghee and pour it over the flour and mix well. Make small balls when the ghee is hot.

Recipe to make Badusha

The name itself suggests that this is the king of sweets. (Badusha means king in Persian).

Ingredients:
Maida - 1 cup
Butter - 50 gms
Ice Water - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup
Oil - to deep fry

Method:
Add the butter to maida and knead it to rawa or bread crumb consistency. Add ice water to maida slowly and knead it again. Make fine balls with it (care should be taken so that no cracks are formed in the ball). Make thin chappatis out of the balls. Place 3 chappatis one over the other. Spread butter in between the chappatis. Spread butter on the top chappati and sprinkle 1 tbsp of maida over it. Roll the chappatis to form a cylinder. Seal the ends and cut into pieces. Keep the cut pieces in fridge for 30 mins.

Make balls of the cut pieces and press them and flatten them. Make a hole in the middle and fry it in oil in medium heat. (Care should be taken that the Badusha is immersed thoroughly in oil for consistent frying). 3 to 4 pieces can be fried at one time. Turn them constantly so that both the sides are puffed up and are cooked completely.

In the mean time, in a hard bottom pan make sugar syrup of 2 string consistency. This have to be kept ready before the Badushas are fried. Remove the Badushas from flame and immerse them in sugar syrup. The Badushas have to be well coated with syrup. Remove the Badushas and spread them on wire sheet to avoid sticking to the plate. While the syrup is still sticky a cherry or a raisin or a badam or a cashew nut can be placed for decoration. 

Chocolate Lollipop - A recipe for the kids

A sweet especially for kids and the kids in all adults.

Ingredients:

Milk - 2 1/2 cups

Drinking chocolate Powder - 4 tsp

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Cashew - 12 nos

Badaam - 12 nos

Method:

Soak and peel Badam. Grind it along with cashew nuts. Boil milk to 1/2 of the original quantity. Add the cashew and badam paste to it. Mix thoroughly. Add chocolate powder and sugar to and bring it to a dough consistency. Make small balls of it. 

Insert lolipop stick into it and freeze it to make chocolate lolipops. 

Wrap it into golden or silver foil and twist the ends of the wrapper to make it look like chocolate freeze it.

Spread it into small rectangular plates and cut small squares or diamonds to make it look like bar chocolates.

To give it as gift to kids, it can be pressed into animal, bird or other moulds, arrange it in a tray and freeze it.

Kaju Kathlee - A very rich recipe made out of Cashew nut

Ingredients:

Cashew Nuts - 1 cup

Sugar - 1 cup

Ghee - 2 tbsp

Water - 1/4 cup

Method:

Soak cashew muts in water for about 15 to 20 mins. Grind it to a fine paste. In a hard bottom pan, add water and sugar. Boil sugar and keep stirring to make one string consistency of sugar syrup. Add the cashew paste to it. Add 1 tbsp of ghee. When it forms a dough consistency lump and doesnot stick to the sides of the pan, then remove it from flame and spread it on ghee smeared plate. When cold cut into desired shapes. (Normally it is cut into diamond shape).

Recipe for Pumpkin (Damroot) Halwa

A very famous sweet dish. I dont think this is something specific to any particular region of India. But have to do some research.

Ingredients:
White Pumpkin - 2 cups (grated)
Milk - 2 cups milk
Milk Maid - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Khoa- 1/2 cup grated
Cardamom Powder - 1 pinch
Cashew Nuts - 10 to 12 nos
Ghee - 1/4 cup
Kesar Powder - 1/2 pinch

Method:
Squeeze out the excess water from the Pumkin. In a flat hard bottom pan boil milk and when it comes to boil add grated pumpkin and cardamom powder. In 1 tsp of water mix kesar powder and add it to the pan. Keep stirring till the milk gets absorbed by the pumpkin. Add sugar and cook in low flame. Add 2 tbsp of ghee and stir continuously till the ghee gets separated. Add grated khoa to the cooked halwa. The halwa will turn dry when cooked fully.

In ghee fry the cashewnuts till golden brown. Add it to the halwa

How to make sweet sundal for Navarathri

Though spicy sundal is the main neivedhyam for Navarathri, whole moong dal, Karamani dal, Bengal gram dal can be made as sweet sundal using Jaggery. (It is better not to use sugar).

Ingredients:
Broken Channa Dal (Bengal Gram Dal), Moong dal or Karamani - 2 cups
Grated coconut - 1/4 cup
Cardamom powder - 2 pinches (or made from 4 to 6 nos)
Jaggery - 1 cup

Method:
Soak the dals (except broken channa dal) over night. Pressure cooks the dal. In a pan add 1/5th cup of water and jaggery. Make thick jaggery syrup. Filter it and pour it back again to the pan after washing it. Add the cooked dal. Allow the extra water to evaporate. Add grated coconut and cardamom powder and mix well.

Sweet sundal is ready for Neivedhyam

Recipe for Rice Pittu - Neivedhyam on fridays during Navarathri

It is very auspicious to make Pittu during Navarathri Fridays.

Ingredients:
Processed Rice Flour - from 4 cups of rice (you will get 2 to 3 cups of rice)
Jaggery - 4 cups
Coconut - 1 no. Big
Cashew Nuts - 20 nos
Thoor Dal - 1/2 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Salt - 1 tsp
Turmeric Powder - 1 tsp
Cardamom - 10 to 12 nos


Method to make Pittu:
In a pan dry roast processed rice flour till it turns slight red in colour. Seive the flour and ensure that there is no lumps formed.  Transfer the bowl to a big shallow basin. Heat 2 cups of water along with salt and turmeirc powder. Let the water be warm.

Grind the thuvar dal to a fine powder. Mix it well with the rice flour. Add the water slowly to the rice flour and mix the entire rice flour slowly. It should be mixed thoroughly by hand ensuring that no lumps are formed. Transfer the entire content to a thin cloth and steam it in cooker. Once done, transfer it to a flat basin. Grate the coconut and mix it well with the steamed rice flour. Grind the cardamom into fine powder and add it to the rice flour. Cut cashew nuts into small pieces. Fry it in a tbsp of ghee till golden brown. Add it to the steamed flour.

In a pan add 1/5th cup of water and jaggery. Make a double string consistency jaggery syrup. Add the syrup little by little to the steamed rice flour. Rub the flour thoroughly with the back of a flat laddle and mix it completely.

Add half cup of liquidified ghee to it. Mix everything thoroughly.

Note:
If the Jaggery is not sweet add 1 or 2 more cups and if it is sweeter reduce 1 cup.

Sarkarai Pongal - A sweet recipe for any festival

This is one recipe which is made very often at home especially on fridays of the Tamil month of Thai and Aadi. This is also one Pongal that is made during the festival of Pongal.

Ingredients:
Rice - 2 cups
Moong Dal - 1/2 cup
Jaggery - 1 1/2 cups
Milk - 4 cups
Cardamom - 2 pieces (grind it to fine powder)
Cashew nuts - 10 to 12 pieces
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Raisins - 12 pieces

Method:
In a dry pan fry the rice and moong dal separately till a nice aroma is emitted. Pressure cook the rice and dal together with 2 cups of milk and 5 cups of water. Cook for almost 5 whistles. Mash it thoroughly when the rice is warm. Heat the remaining 2 cups of milk in a solid bottom vessel or pan and add the mashed rice to it and mix thoroughly. Slice the jaggery and add it to the rice and milk and mix thoroughly. Add cardamom powder and mix again.

Fry cashew nuts and raisins in ghee and add it to the cooked Sarkarai Pongal.

Recipe for Milk Cake

Ingredients:
Milkmaid - 1 tin
Sugar - 1 1/4 cup
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Cashew nuts, Badam - to decorate. (Cut into small pieces and fry them in 2 tbsp of ghee)

Method to make Milk Cake
Add 1/2 cup of water to milkmaid and mix well. Add sugar and mix well. Pour the mixture in a hard bottom pan (better flat pan) and keep stirring. When the entire mixture blends well and does not stick to the side of the pan add the fried nuts and mix well. And add the ghee to it. This can either be made into balls or spread in ghee smeared plate and cut into pieces.


For the Tamil version of the same, check here.