GAJAR KA HALWA RECIPE
Ingredients for carrot halva:
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 of carrot halwa :
Wash and grate the carrots. 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. Add
sugar, mix well and cook till the sugar has dissolved and all the milk has
been absorbed.
Add ghee and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the slightly crushed
cardamoms and the raisins. Mix well.
Remove the gajjar halwa from heat and arrange in a serving dish.
Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve cold, hot or at room
temperature.
Sooji Halwa
Ingredients:
1/2 cup sooji (rava, semolina flour)
1/4 cup ghee (clear butter)
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2cup water
Pinch of cardamom powder
1 tablespoon sliced almonds for garnish
Method:
1. Boil the water with sugar, and cardamom powder in a pan
over low medium heat. Bring to a boil and Set aside.
2. Melt the butter in a frying pan on medium heat.
3. Add sooji and roast to golden brown color; stirring
constantly this will take about 5 to 8 minutes. Sooji will be
golden brown in color and will have a light sweet aroma.
4. Add the syrup slowly, as you add the syrup to sooji water
will splatter.
5. Turn down the heat to medium low and let it cook for about
2-3 minutes.
6. Sooji will absorb the water, as the Halwa cools so keep
Halwa a little more softer then you want.
7. Garnish with almonds.
Serving suggestion:
1. Serve hot for best taste. If you like, garnish with shaved
pistachio, almonds or shredded coconut.
2. For breakfast serve with aloo poori.
Variations:
Instead of water add 1 cup of milk and 1/2 cup of water and
keep Halwa a little thicker. Pour the Halwa on a greased plate,
keep it about 1/2 inch thick. Garnish with shaved almonds or
pistachio or shredded coconut, and let it cool for about a half an
hour. Cut the Halwa in square or diamond shapes like burfee.
pani puri
To make puri:
1 cup Semolina (Rava / Suji)
3 tblsp Fine Wheat Flour (Maida)
1/4 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
Oil to deep fry
To make pani:
1/2 cup Tamarind (Imli) Pulp
2 cups Water
2 tblsp roasted Cumin Seed (Jeera) Powder
2 tblsp un-roasted Cumin Seed (Jeera)
1/2 cup Coriander Leaves
3 Green Chilly (Hari Mirch)
1 cup Mint Leaves (Pudina Leaves)
1 tblsp Black Salt (kala namak )
1 tblsp Boondi
2 tblsp crushed Jaggary (Gur)
To make stuffing:
2 medium boiled potatoes
1/2 cup boiled dried yellow peas/ small chickpeas
salt to taste
Green chutney
Red Tamarind Chutney
How to make pani puri:
To Make Puri:
Mix sooji, maida, baking soda and salt in a wide mouth vessel. Now add
warm water little by little to knead a stiff dough. The stiffness should be
same as for the puris. Cover it with a damp muslin cloth and keep it
aside for 30 mins.
Now make small equal lemon sized balls of the dough. Do remember to
keep them covered with damp muslin cloth while making more balls.
Now with the help of some dry maida, roll out thin rotis. Make them
round with the help of a round cookie cutter or lid of any container.
Points to remember before frying :
1. Always ensure that the oil is hot before frying otherwise the puris will
soak in excess oil and will not puff. Put a small testing puri. If it comes
up fast then the oil is rightly hot.
2. Also the oil should not be smoking hot or the puris will get burnt and
dark.
Heat oil in a deep bottom pan or kadai and put 3 - 4 puris in the kadai
and fry them with the help of a slotted spoon.
While frying, press them in the center allow them to puff up. We want a
pocket in each and every puri.
Now flip them over and let them cook. Take them out on a kitchen towel
when they are light brown and crisp. Don't let them get dark in color.
Let them cool. Later store in an airtight container.
To Make Pani:
Grind in a hand blender coriander, mint leaves and green chillies to
make a fine paste.
Mix all the ingredients of the pani along with the green paste. Dissolve
the gur properly. Adjust the spices and tanginess according to taste.
Strain through a wire strainer to remove any rough bits. Keep in the
refrigerator for 2 -3 hrs before serving.
To Make The Stuffing : In a bowl mix yellow peas, roughly mashed
potatoes and salt. Keep aside.
To Serve: Make a small hole on a puri by tapping slowly on the crisp
side. Fill some stuffing in the centre along with some green chutney,
tamarind chutney and some chilled pani prepared earlier. Stir the pani
before using to mix all the masalas.
Enjoy homemade pani puri or golgappa or puchkas....
PEDA
Ingredients:
4 cups milk
1 cup sugar
Cardamom powder
Ghee
Method:
Heat the milk on a medium low heat stirring continuously. (First hour,
stir it only once in about 3-5mins but after 1st hr you need to stir
continuously).
When the milk is reduced to one cup (measure it after approximately
3hrs) to see if it is 1 cup. Then add the sugar. Keep mixing. When it
starts leaving edges and looks quite dry, add the cardamom powder.
Take it out on a plate greased with ghee. Let it cool to room
temperature. Make the pedas.
Makes about 15 pedas
Preparation time : 4hrs
PS: Use whole milk for a better result.
Use thick bottomed pans for reducing milk, since milk sticks to
bottom very easily. A wide bottomed pan saves a lot of time.
If you have a large quantity of milk, you can keep the heat on
medium initially for about hour or so and keep stirring frequently.
Some people add some dry fruits or saffron/food color to give extra
flavor/color to it. I prefer the pure one, so I haven’t used any.
