Daily Archives: October 21, 2016

Edible carrot halwa cups served with ice cream and gulab jamoon

Preparation time : 15 minutes
Cooking time : 30 minutes + 4 hours setting time in the freezer
Serves : 8 members

Description

Combining three classic desserts together to be served as one is what is done here in style. I am sure most of the households in India celebrate festival’s with carrot halwa and gulab jamoon. Here I have made edible cups with the carrot halwa, topped it with a scoop of icecream and garnished it with a mini gulab jamoon. This match made in heaven divine combination is a never fail killer trio. As I was writing the recipe, I had my friends help me out. The entire gang was drooling and excited about it. They still have not got their share. I am yet to treat them. I was not very confident with making the edible cups with carrot halwa but believe me it’s easier to make than to be imagined as a hard task to master.I assure you any where served it will be a super hit. To more edgy recipes that can be done at home in restaurant style.. let’s do a hip hip hurray and celebrate the dessert.

Edible carrot halwa cups served with ice cram and gulab jamoon

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrots	6 peeled and grated
Ghee	1/2 cup
Sugar	1 cup
Salt	a pinch
Fresh cream	1 teaspoon
Milk Kova	2 tablespoons
Cardamom powder	1/4 teaspoon
Almonds, Cashew nuts and pistachio	few peeled and chopped
Milk	1/4 litter
Vanilla essence	one drop
Mini Gulab jamoon	10
Vanilla flavour ice cream	3 cups

Other things needed

muffin baking tin
Cling film

Method

Heat ghee, add the chopped nuts and fry to golden in colour. Add the grated carrots and milk.
Cook to done. Reduce the moisture by boiling further to get a dry consistency mixture.
Add sugar, cream, milk Kova and cardamom powder. Boil further for 10 to 15 minutes until moist but thick.
Remove from heat and cool completely.
Line each cup cake mould with cling film making sure it is around 1/2 centi meter above the muffin mould so it’s easy for you to lift and peel once the cups are set.
Grease each muffin dent with ghee on top of the cling film.
Drop two tablespoons of cooled carrot halwa into each muffin lined dent.
With your hands press in the bottom and all around in equal thickness to get a cup shape. Place this muffin tin in the freezer for four hours or more to set.
Just before serving, remove the muffin tray from the freezer.
Peel the set cups out of the cling films. Place in a serving plate.
Top with a scoop of ice cream inside the carrot halwa cups. Place a mini gulab jamoon in the centre of the ice cream and serve immediately in style.

Fruit Sandesh

Preparation time   : 30 minutes
Cooking time        : nil
Serves                  : 4 members

Description

Panner ( ricotta cheese ) is one ingredient that I got to know of very late as a kid. I remember eating palak panner in a restaurant for the first time when I was in the fourth standard in ooty. Not knowing what it is made of and tasted like nothing actually. I was in a confused state of mind then. From then on it was just another ingredient to me that is used in savoury dishes. The first time I got to see trala dalal use panner to make cheese cake.. my head did spin thinking yuk panner in a dessert. Wonder how it would taste. Finally I did end up following trala dalals vegetarian method of making a cheese cake with panner. My myth of panner is used just for making savoury things was thrown into the bins. Now I try to make a lot of deserts with panner and this is one such try that I did with tinned mixed fruits. This dessert should be had with in a day or two of making. With no cooking required, this is my go to recipe most of the time. I make the same with the fruits of the season for filling like stewed Apple’s or pineapples .
Try this dessert this Diwali season and entertain your loved ones with zing.

Fruit Sandesh

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Panner ( ricotta cheese )	200 grams
Powdered sugar	5 tablespoons
Milk	2 teaspoon ( optional , add only if the panner is too dry )
Rose essence	one drop

Ingredients for the fruit filling

Ingredients	Quantity
Tinned fruit	1 tin drained
Saffron	a pinch

Method

Mix drained mixed fruits with rose essence and saffron. keep aside.
Crumble the panner and add the sugar powder. Mix well. If dry add milk it’s optional. Knead well together. Roll into lemon size balls.
Flatten each ball to Palm size . Place a teaspoon of mixed fruit in the centre. Bring the flattened panner edges towards the centre and close the fruits and roll to a log shape of finger size. Do the same to all the panner dough and fruits mix.
Place in the refrigerator until needed to be served. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve chilled.

Shahi boondi jar

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 40 minutes
Serves : 8 members

Description

Any thing from desserts,salads, starters to main course served in a jar is so much in trend now a days. So why not try a jar dessert was the idea that popped up in mind. Having a lot of ladoos at home that were gifted by a cousin. I had to make use of them. What would pair well with a ladoo.. the mighty rabdi is the best said my inner instincts. Made a thick rabdi. Layered the two and this colourful jar dessert was born. The creaminess of the rabdi and the crispy moist crunch of the ladoo was a fantastic combination. I sent over a few to friends and relatives as I had five jars in hand. Saved just one for home. As I started to relish the dessert, I was like .. I should have saved two.. then it went back to.. thank god you have only one jar home. So less calories in take.. me and my monkey mind .. jumping from one jar to the other..

Shahi Boondi jar

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Mothi choor ladoo	6 broken down
Milk	1 litter
Cardamom powder	1 teaspoon
Sugar	2 tablespoons
Cashew nuts , almonds and pistachio	peeled and chopped few to garnish

Method

Boil milk and reduce it to half its amount. Add cardamom powder and sugar. Boil further and reduce it to 1/4 of Its amount. Remove from heat and cool completely.
Take a clean glass jar of small size, fill the bottom to 1/4 th with the Mothi choor laddu evenly. Top with cooled milk rabdi to 1/4 inch equal to the Mothi choor laddu’ height.
Top again with Mothi choor laddu and another layer of rabdi. Make sure the top most layer is Mothi choor laddu.
Garnish with chopped nuts. Place in the refrigerator for six hours or more. Serve chilled.

Carrot rasamalai

Preparation time : 10 minutes
Cooking time : 5 minutes
Serves : 6 members

Description

Having to come up sweet recipes to be published in a leading Tamil monthly food magazine as Diwali special. I did not want to give the cliche sweets that are served at homes nor did I want to come up with cakes , cookies and things like that. So made up my mind to do deconstruct our desi sweets with a twist. This was one idea that I got from the world wide net which was done by a chef in Delhi ( sorry, I didn’t take note of the chef ). I simplified the recipe as much as I could as the origin recipe was too technically advanced that we home chefs find difficult to follow. Made the dish and my first bite into the rasmalai sandwich… rabdi oozing out with the light whipped cream mixed with carrot’s grated was a match made in heaven. My mind went blank until I finished the entire lot. Then popped a question on why carrots alone pair so well with any Indian sweet. Well a million dolled question that I didn’t get an answer for till date. Carrot or no carrot I love my rasamali’s in any form. I always hide the last from others and gobble it up when alone. Crazy, Greedy breed me.

Carrot rasmalai

Ingredients

Ingredients	Quantity
Rasmalai	6
Peeled , boiled and grated carrots	2 tablespoons
Whipped cream	2 tablespoons
Almonds , pistachio, rose petals	few to garnish

Method

Squeeze the milk out of the resmalais. Cut each into equal halves horizontally.
Whip cream according to packet instructions to still peaks. Fold in the grated carrots with the cream.
Place one cut slice of resmalai. Top with one tablespoon of carrot whipped cream. Again place another piece of resmalai cut piece on top. Again top with carrot cream.
Do the same with all the cut resmalai pieces and whipped cream.
Place the sandwiched carrot resmalis in a shallow plate’s individually. Pour the resmalai milk over.
Garnish with chopped almonds, pistachio and rose petals. Place in the refrigerator and serve chilled.