RSS
 

Thirunelveli Halwa- A sweet delicacy!

04 Mar

The First time when i made this sweet was during my school days. Somewhere i read this recipe and made it. It came out good at the first time. This Sweet is so close to me as it reminds me of my childhood memories. My father used to buy this sweet from  a place called Thirunelvi, a region in southern part of Tamilnadu. The sweet is named after this city’s name. Though there are many different varieties to Halwa, this is something unique that i have come across.

The Preparation itself is a 4 step process. At first, wheat kernels have to be soaked overnight. Second, wet grinding the wheat and extracting the wheat milk. Third leaving it to rest for another 8 hrs. The fourth and the last step is the final preparation.  In Indian sweet shops, this halwa wont be having this cube  form as it is in this picture. As it is too soft and not stable, it will be difficult to make perfect square. Usually it is shapeless and scooped, weighed and sold in kilograms.

It feels like very soft jelly like although it is not completely jelly, and melts in mouth in no minutes. If you are diet conscious please stay one step back because once u try a spoon of it, you may feel addicted to it and may try to finish it.

Last Diwali, I made this sweet and shared with our friends. Got some nice comments from them and especially, D requested me for this recipe. So here goes the recipe….

Ingredients

  1. Wheat Milk – 1 , 1/2 cup ( from 1 cup of wheat kernels)
  2. Sugar – 3 cups
  3. Indian Clarified Butter(Ghee)- 1 ,1/2 cups
  4. Almonds – sliced 1/4 cup
  5. Powdered Cardamom –   Blend 5 cardamom pods and 2 Tbs Sugar to get fine powder
  6. Food color – a pinch of red and green each..

Method:

1. Soak the wheat Kernels with sufficient water for 7 to 8 hours preferably overnight.

2. Drain the water and wash the grains with fresh water.

3. Add the wheat and some water to a blender jar and blend it until coarse to smooth consistency.  Take a big  bowl using a strainer pour this ground mixture.

You can see that the wheat milk is getting collected and use a spoon to help drain the liquid thoroughly.

4. Take the husk or the outer layer of wheat which remains in the strainer, and add some more water and blend it and then strain it. Repeat this whole process,

blending, straining 2 to 3 times. Please be liberal in adding water at this point.

5. Leave this wheat milk in a kitchen corner undisturbed to atleast 5 to 6 hrs. The traditional recipe (which i remember from my long memory) will call to leave this milk  overnight, for 8 hrs. It does two things basically, one is to separate the water from this batter and the other is to let ferment.

6. This  liquid will look like pancake batter. After all the resting time, you can see the water is separated and solid white part of it stays down. Now take this bowl near to the sink and slightly tilt the vessel such that the clear water is removed. You may notice, the last couple of spoons of water will be difficult to be removed, let it be.  With 1 cup of Wheat you may get 1 and half cup batter.

7. Now we are all set to prepare this delicious sweet. Take a good flat non stick pan and add this batter and 4 cups of water. .Now switch on the heat and keep it to medium to low medium heat in the overall process.

8. When this mixture slightly starts boiling add in the sugar and keep stirring.

9. After some time you may notice, the mixture gets into thick batter consistency and now add it half of ghee and mix it.

10. Then on you can add the remaining ghee from time to time and fully incorporate it. Add in color if desired.

11. This whole cooking process may require 1 hr to 1.5 hrs. You may have to stop cooking when u see that the halwa has come together in to a lump.

12. The excess ghee which is floating on top can be removed with the help of spoon.

13. Finally finish it with cardamom and sliced almonds.

14. You can leave it like this. OR Take a steel plate or tray, apply ghee all over the plate. Spread this mixture and leave it until it cools down.

15 . With a sharp knife, slice it  and enjoy this by serving it warm. ( you may not get perfect cubes as the Halwa is too soft and unstable to handle.)

 
5 Comments

Posted in Sweet

 

Avacado Stuffed Sweet Pepper Salad

07 Feb

Got this lengthy red sweet paprika from market last week. This time i decided to make this salad as i liked the vibrant red color and decided to prepare a dish as it is. At the same time an Avacodo was ripened  and ready to get picked up by me from the fruit basket. I made this salad for our dinner and it was simply delicious, Do try it and let me know how did you like it.?

Ingredients:

  1. Lengthy Red Sweet Pepper – 1
  2. Avacado – 1
  3. Walnuts – 8 nos, roasted and coaresly chopped
  4. Shallots – finely chopped 2 Tbs
  5. Lemon juice – from half a lemon
  6. Corriander leaves – finely chopped 1 Tbs
  7. Salt as needed
  8. Sugar – 1/2 tsp
  9. Green chilli – finely minced 1/4 tsp (optional)
  10. Balsamico(dark) – a little for final dressing

Method:

1. Skin the Avacado and add it to a bowl and mash it roughly.

2. Now add Shallots, lemon juice, corriander leaves,salt, sugar, chilli and finally Walnuts and give it a good mix.

3. Chop the top of the pepper and remove any seeds.

4. Stuff the Avacado mix inside with the help of spoon until it fills up all the space.

5. Arrange the pepper in the plate and slice it as you like. Add Balsamico sauce to add extra punch to the salad.

 
2 Comments

Posted in Salad, Vegetarian

 

Yummy Baklava and my 100th post…

20 Jan


I am very happy to post this sweet as my 100th post.  One of the sweets, which I have underestimated by its simple ingredients and preparation method, until I tasted it first time. A Colleague of mine, who is from Turkey, had brought some authentic Baklava’s to office.  As I tasted, I felt the crispy sweet & buttery layered sheets with the richness of crunchy nuts(Walnuts). I could not stop going for the next one. Since then, I have been trying to find out the filo pastry sheets from German supermarkets and couldn’t find on. So, I  tried to make it with ready made Puff pastry and with Spring roll pastry, but it was not anywhere near to the original taste.

After a long time, I was lucky to find it in one of the Turkish market from the next city. I also got some good quality of de-skinned Pistachios, which is one of the key ingredient for the overall taste.

The Procedure for making it is very simple. Apply melted butter on every layer of sheets and lay the coarse crushed nuts in between one of the bottom layers. Bake it until golden brown and finish it by pouring with sugar or Honey sirup afterwards.

We enjoyed making it with 24 layers and Riya helped me in buttering the layers.

Ingredients:

  1. Filo Pastry sheets – 1 pkt ( I used 450 gms, approx 60*60 of 12 sheets)
  2. Butter – 250 gms
  3. Sugar – 2 cups
  4. Lemon juice- few drops
  5. Almonds - blanched, dry and chopped finely
  6. Pistachios-blanched , dry and chopped or coarsely ground
  7. Flavoring – any flavoring of your choice (optional)

Method:

1. First make the Sugar sirup. Add Sugar with a cup of water and boil for 15-20 mins. Add few drops of lemon juice.

2. While sugar sirup is getting ready, prepare the tray for baking baklava sheets. Lay the sheets in a tray such that it fits in all the sides of the tray. I had 12 long sheets which i had cut it  and used as 24 sheets, which was fitting my tray and as well. 12 sheet layered Baklava was anyway was too thin.

3. Melt the Butter. Just as it melts in to liquid, switch off the heat. Butter the tray, lay the first sheet, butter it, lay the second sheet and butter it, and continue until 8 layers and now fill in the nuts.

4. Nuts filling should be sweet, so add either couple of spoons of sugar sirup or sugar to the nuts. (Nuts and sugar can be ground together and used for garnishing) and fill in top of 8th layer. One can choose in which layer to add the filling. I have chosen 8th layer as the sweet will have good stability to hold the nuts. I used Pistachios for half of the layer and Almonds for other half.

5. Continue layering and applying butter till you reach the last sheet.

6. Before putting the tray in oven, use a sharp knife to cut the layered sheets into small pieces. Smaller shapes lets sugar syrup to soak-in nicely at step 8.

7. Preheat the oven for 170C and bake it for 30-35 mins at 150C in the middle rack of oven. You could see the Bakalava pieces dance with melting butter and turn light  brown on the top.

8. Remove from oven and pour the sugar sirup all over while the baked baklava is hot. The Sugar sirup can be medium hot while pouring.

9. Leave for it for few hours to let the Baklava’s to absorb the sugar sirup. Serve it in a plate with ground nuts on top.

 
4 Comments

Posted in Dessert, Sweet

 

Chocolate cake with Choco coated Marshmallows

06 Jan

This is yet another cake and Marshmallow candy made during Christmas time. I did this together with Riya again… I just have to tell the secret word ‘Baking’ to her and OhMyGod she is so excited more than me in baking. The first and best favorite pass time these days for her is baking with me. She likes to sift,mix, using electric mixer, breaking eggs, and last but not least , she never forgot’s to taste the batter. Infact, tasting is the best part all kids love during baking process.  Riya took the complete responsibility of Marshmallow candy and enjoyed making it for her school Christmas Party. She was so proud to tell her friends that she made it all alone.

Ingredients:

For Cake:

  1. All purpose flour – 6 cups
  2. Baking soda – 3tsp
  3. Choco powder- 1 and 1/2 cup
  4. Sugar – 3 cups
  5. Salt -1 and 1/2tsp
  6. Eggs – 6
  7. Milk – 3 cups
  8. Oil – 2 and 1/2 cups

For Marshmallows:

  1. Colored Marshmallows – 1 pkt
  2. Scraped Chocolate – 150gms
  3. Bretzel sticks – few( to hold the marshmallows) or Lollipop sticks
  4. Some sugar sprinkles

Method:

1. Sift together the dry ingredients for cake( 1 to 5) in a bowl.

2. Whisk the liquid ingredients together adding and whisking one by one.(6,7,8)

3. Using electric mixer, mix the liquid and dry ingredients slowly in to cake batter.

4. Bake it at 170 C for 30 min in a preheated oven.

5. I used standard baking tray for this quantity which yielded 35 pieces approx.

6. Once the cake is cooled add the Chocolate liquid Ganache on top of the cake. I have cut the cake pieces and later added the Ganache. The Recipe for this liquid Ganache is here.

7. For the choco coated Marshmallows,  Melt the chocolate in a microwave for 1 – 2 minutes, checking  and stirring it often. Once it starts melting remove from microwave and stir it, so it is now thin and is in liquid form.

8. Insert the bretzel sticks in marshmallow like a lollipop and dip it in liquid chocolate and then sprinkle sugar decorations on top. Leave it aside for 1/2 an hour to dry.

9. Once it is dried, you can assemble it on the cake.

 
2 Comments

Posted in Cake, Candy

 

Chocolate coated Chocolate truffles

01 Jan

The brown colored standard chocolate truffles.

The pink ones are strawberry flavoured truffles.

White Chocolate coated truffles and dark chocolate floral design with Macadamia Nuts stuffed inside & dessicated Coconut rolled Truffles.

Riya’s  hand made truffles.

I wish all my viewers, friends and family a very Happy New Year 2013!  On this special occasion  we enjoyed the homemade gorgeous truffles. Simple to make and with only few ingredients needed, it was fun making it with Riya again during this holiday time.

Back in India, when we visit families and friends, it is a tradition to get them some sweets and fresh flowers. The flowers are worn on women’s hair or offered to God.

Some of the famous sweets of India are Ladoos, colorful Rasagullas, milk sweets…..

Whenever I see truffles in bakery and Confectionery shops, I used to remember the Ladoo’s of India as the shape of Ladoo’s as well is spherical. The truffles are arranged beautifully with different toppings and colors  and looks quite impressive and tastes yummy and melts in mouth.

For this new year, I tried this truffles and they came out really good. Truffles mixture is more or less like Ganache but with less cream. The Chocolate, Cream and butter mixture is rolled in to small balls and topped with favorite nuts or Coco powder. The Recipe is as follows

Ingredients:

For Truffle:

  1. Semi dark Chocolate – 220gms
  2. Heavy cream – 100ml
  3. Butter – 2 Tbsp
  4. Coco Powder – 50gms (for rolling )
  5. Optional ingredients – (Coconut flakes, finely chopped pistachios, sugar sprinkles, any chopped nuts). I used halved macadamia nuts to stuff inside truffles.

For outer Chocolate coating:

  1. White or dark chocolate – 100gms

Method:

1. Heat the cream in a bowl until it starts to boil and remove from heat.

2. Add finely chopped or shaved chocolates and butter in to the hot cream.

3. Mix all of them together until smooth liquid consistency and leave it overnight in fridge.

4. Measure a spoon of truffle mixture and make it in to ball and roll in Coco powder. Alternatively the truffles can be rolled in to pistachios or Coconut powder or sugar     crispies. I used halved Macadamia nuts as the stuffing inside the truffles.

5.If an additional chocolate layer around the truffle is needed, melt the desired white or black chocolate under double boiling until smooth liquid consistency and dip the truffles in them. Take the dipped chocolate out and allow it to dry in butter sheet.

6. With the truffles inside and outer layered chocolate, i piped some designs on them.

( The pink ones are made from white chocolate truffle with little bit of strawberry flavoring and color. This recipe for this one is not included here.)

 
2 Comments

Posted in Candy

 
« Older Entries