Sweet things and hoping for a better new year!

As we come to the end of another year, it's time to reflect. Time to plan and make new year resolutions. In my case, I have stopped making any, I don't keep them. I don't need the guilt on top of everything.

But like you all, I am hoping for a better new year and I'm going to try my best to make it a good one.

I have learned a lot this year, some through personal experience, some from friends and their experiences.

In the end, I know one thing for sure, I have so much to be thankful for.

People have a lot going on in their lives and are battling situations every day. They still smile and trudge on.

This is one lesson I will carry with me, not just in the new year, but always, I am blessed and I am thankful for that.

Now, after this heavy dosage, let me get on to a better topic. Under such circumstances, weather is the safest topic.

You all know how I like to crib about the weather.I'm not cribbing here, just sayin'.

The weather in FL is still *very* warm. While many of you are bundled up in layers and others in a jacket, we still go around in shorts and wipe the sweat off our brow and still switch on the AC.

No kidding, we sweat. Yuck! I know, it's healthy and all that, but honestly.... yuck!

I'm taking it slow on the baking front, I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, which never fail and this time, they did. I was shocked. They taste good, no doubt, but, they went flat. I have no clue why, I'm guessing it was the baking soda. I will make another batch soon, once I have the courage and another fresh pack of baking soda.

I do want to share a picture ( a poor one, sadly) of the last cake I baked for my friend T. I made this in October and was waiting for better pictures taken on a good quality SLR by another guest. But, he hasn't obliged.

In any case, the photo shows the details and I want to share them with you all.

This picture was taken on my iPhone and in a hurry. The children and the birthday girl were eager to cut the cake!

This was a basic chocolate cake, 9 inch and 2 layers with whipped cream filling and the decoration is butter cream. I used my favorite, Wilton 104 to make the roses and the star tip for the basket weave. 

I had a lot of fun making this cake and learning too. I know now, for example, that I suck at frosting a cake. I just cannot dollop a gob of butter cream on the cake and spread it in a thick layer. Butter cream is SO sweet and I am very hesitant when applying a thick layer on. I accept it and prefer to make a basket weave, hoping, that it used less frosting. I may be wrong. 

I love making floral cakes! 

With all the pumpkin and squashes flooding the market, I made the 'subji' version a lot. The family finally got a little tired of it, despite the constant variation. So with just half a butternut squash left and no one willing I had to make them in to ''Ghaarge', or Pumpkin Poories. 

In this version, however, I made some changes, I did not use any rice flour. I used some fine rava/ semolina ( just a couple of tablespoons) and whole wheat flour.
I used a bit more jaggery, my son likes his sweets properly 'sweetened'. I like it that way too. Not cloyingly sweet, mind you, but just right for us. So I ended up adding an extra 2 tbsp jaggery.


The dough is a tad sticky and difficult to roll ( traditionally these are patted into a round shape and deep fried)  but I managed and the end result is right here!
My son loved them and a friend, with whom I shared these liked them a lot as did her 2 adorable little daughters.

Here is a quick re-cap of the recipe:

I used

Butternut squash ( medium sized ) grated, about 2- 2.5 cups.
3/4 cup Crumbled jaggery  ( plus 2-3 tbsp, in my case) 
1/4 tsp  ( or 2-3 hefty pinches) Salt
1 tbsp Oil  to be used while kneading
2 tbsp Ghee
1 - 1.5 cups Whole wheat Flour / Atta
2 pinches Cardamom powder
Oil to deep fry the poories

Heat Ghee in a kadhai and add the grated pumpkin /squash. Cook it till it is soft. This takes about 3-5 minutes on  medium heat.
Switch off the heat and add in the crumbled jaggery and mix well. The jaggery will melt and the mix will become a gooey golden syrupy mass. Add half tbs oil.

Mix the flour, rava, cardamom powder and salt and gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet and make a dough. The dough must be firm. Towards the end add the remaining oil (1/2 T) and knead and form a ball.

Do not use any water when kneading the dough.

Heat oil in a wok (about 2 inches). While the oil heats up, roll the poories or pat them into small circular discs.
I made a large round 'roti' /'tortilla' and used a round cookie cutter to shape them. 4 poories to one roti.

The dough will stick to the rolling pin and board, just dust some flour between rounds and take it off.

Do not dust the poories. This will only make the oil murky.

Once the oil is hot ( drop a small piece of the dough and if it rises to the top steadily, you are set) slide in 3-4 poories ( depending on the size of your kadhai) and deep fry these beauties to a golden brown. Do not crowd the kadhai.

Drain on paper towels and store in a tight-fit lidded container ( you know what I mean).
These can be stored at room temperature for a couple of days. Beyond that, no idea, we never need to store any! These are good!

* You can also add a hefty pinch of Nutmeg /Jaiphal powder to the mix, it tastes good.

Enjoy these poories as a snack.


Here's wishing you all a VERY Happy New Year and see you all soon! Till then, take care of yourself and your loved ones! 

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MBP- LESS IS MORE !!

More than 6 weeks have rolled by and I haven't posted anything! Life has been hectic, no doubt, but I am enjoying every bit of it! The sleepless nights... okay, so it's waking up just once in the middle of the night..., the diaper changes, the baby talk and the coos and gurgles in response with an occasional smile as a reward! Though I have peeped in at other blogs, I haven't done much.... no cooking, but it's time to go back to that! My parents have gone back to India and now M and I are on our own with Little S!
So while my baby is amusing himself on his play mat and conversing with the ceiling (his favourite activity) I am scribbling away at my blog!

Nupur's theme forMBP has come at the right time! Now that time is a constraint, I will have this wonderful collection of super recipes all in one place!

Before going back, Mom wanted to make sure I have some snacks at hand when hunger pangs strike me and I may not have time to make anything when tending to the baby. And since she was also handling EVERYTHING (read cooking, cleaning, all chores around the house, handling the baby and me in my hysterical moments when I'd sob when the baby cried ) else around my home, it was only fair that she save time and energy somewhere!

Among other things that she made, she was very keen on trying out Microwave Besan Ladoo, which are our favourites.

Tee's recipe is a HIT!! Mom saved a huge amount of time and also energy and arm exercise! Within no time we had the ladoos ready!

We followed the recipe with only one change, no raisins! As it is, I am not a big fan of raisins and MBP calls for 5 ingredients or less!

Thank You Tee for the wonderful recipe and Nupur for this wonderful theme!!

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A good marriage is like a casserole, only those responsible for it really know what goes in it.

The Sweet year that was !!!

I celebrated my first wedding anniversary a few days ago..... The first thought I had in the morning was; this time last year, I was, at 6:00 am, having a 'last' look at my 'maika'.. oh no! no waterworks for me please!
Since then one full year has gone by, in the wink of an eye! Seems like yesterday that my mother was at her wits end trying to convince me to choose a guy to get married to.. all those endless lectures... my frivolous retorts...pooh poohing the proposals....

And then one fine day...it happened! The wild, carefree (and careless), don't-care colt was tamed.....

Today when I look back, I feel very happy about my decision, very content with the life I lead (but that in no way assuages my desire to shop- my one undying passion!) and proud of my husband and thankful to God for giving me such a loving, caring family. (Touch wood!)

Now I wanted to make a spread to mark this wonderful day, but M had other plans... the sly devil! he never told me... but what a glorious dinner plan he had made!! But I insisted on making the sweet of the day! Well, that too had to be a shortcut he said.

Ok, as you wish! so I whipped out a ready mix pack of Gulab Jamun and made them as per the instructions on the pack. No, I won't put up a recipe for the little effort that went into making this delectable sweet, just the pic to show how well they turned out, but yes, one of these days, I am going to make gulab jamuns from scratch and proudly post them here!

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Gajar ka Halwa !!

What is it that first comes to your mind when you think of gajar ka halwa? Sweet? Calorie rich? Wonderful dessert? YUmmmmmm.... ? Can do with another helping! ?
What comes to my mind is a scene from a long ago movie.. I cannot recollect the name ... however, it went like this, the hero (yesteryear actor Biswajeet) comes home after a long time, after his return and ' Maa ki aakon mein khushi ke aansu'(tears of joy in the Mother's eyes) she tells him to go freshen up as she has made gajar ka halwa for the special ocassion, and he says, " Ma, tumhe kaise pata, mujhe gajar ka halwa pasand hai?"(Mom, how do you know I like gajar ka halwa?) Hello.... she is your Mother, she raised you remember!! Anyway, this sweet has long been the favourite of all heros in movies... and is vastly popular among the rest (the normal guy, who has never fought off a gang of 20 villans single handedly, has never had a bevy of beatuies swarming around him, who does not sing songs in the rain, running around trees...)..the calorie conscious female lead takes a back seat here, but hey, I'm far from that, which means I can i-n-d-u-l-g-e in this sweet!
More importantly, the carrots were lying in the fridge for a week now, and I would catch it if M laid his eyes on them lying untouched ! So I finally rolled my sleeves in the afternoon and got down to grating the carrots .. quite a workout I tell you !
Now, grating carrots can become such a task - after the first 2 carrots, that I don't know how many I used (seemed like 100's!) I even contempleted putting them thru the blender, but then rejected the idea thinking that it may not look and taste as good....

So roughly I took

2 1/2 katori (cup) grated carrots

3 tbsp ghee

2 katori milk

1/2 katori sugar (take a couple of tbsp. off the top)

A few strands saffron

Nuts to garnish

Cardamom powder

In a heavy bottom pan, heat the ghee, add the grated carrot and cook till tender. If u feel the carrot is sticking to the bottom, add a bit of water. Once the carrot is tender, add in the milk, stir well and cook on a med-high flame. Stir ocassionally otherwise the halwa gets stuck to the bottom and burns. Have patience... slowly the milk will thicken, add the saffron ( I just popped it in the milk). Once the mix looks solid enough, add the sugar. Mix it well and cook.
Once done, add the cardamom powder and garnish with nuts.

* Adding milk and cooking the carrot in it makes the halwa a bit sludgy, but tastes very nice. If you prefer the dryish kind of halwa, khoya needs to be used.

This is my entry for 'Festive food fair' event at Anna's morsels and musings .

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The Festivities continue... Making Srikhand and Amrakhand!!

Diwali is over, but we are still continuing the festivities :D !
One all time favourite sweet is srikhand and amrakhand and Diwali was just the ocassion to indulge in my sweet tooth!
I remember in childhood, my parents would bring srikhand for Dussehra, Diwali from a particular place in Dadar west in Mumbai- Samant Loniwale , which always had a heavy rush for 'chakka' ( thick yogurt obtained after draining whey) and srikhand.
They would generously top the srikhand with nuts, saffron and nutmeg powder.. YUM!!
For years we bought store made srikhand, then later just 'chakka' and at home added sugar and desired topping... but the best tasting srikhand was when my Father made it at home from scratch! so now that he is with me for Diwali, we though that this ocassion called for Baba made srikhand and amrakhand because I love it!

Sincce this was my first attempt at making srikhand (with Baba's instructions) I made a small quantity...

4 cups whole milk yogurt (low fat / reduced fat is a strict no-no) I got 'Sadaf' brand from the store here which is so far the best yogurt I found in US !!
1 1/2 cup sugar (more if u have a very sweet tooth)
Few strands saffron
1/4 spn. nutmeg powder
Fine muslin cloth ( a big handkerchief will work just as well)
Bit of string

In a plate lay the hanky and put the yogurt in it, like so.....

Draw up the edges of the cloth/ hanky and let the whey drip...
Secure the yogurt in the hanky with a bit of string like a 'potli'...

Hang the 'potli' and let it drip for nearly 4-5 hoursor until the whey is FULLY drained.
Remove the yogurt (chakka) from the hanky, add sugar and churn with your hand (so as to remove any chunky bits of yogurt) to make it smooth.
Add nutmeg powder and mix well. Heat a couple of spoons of milk add saffron so that you get a lovely colour and flavour. Add this to the yogurt. Garnish with chopped nuts (almonds, pistachios ) if you want.

To make Amrakhand, Add sugar and mango pulp to the yogurt, mix well and serve with puri / fulka.

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Diwali!! Dhanteras.. Day 1

Orange glow of twinkling diyas..Multi-coloured Rangoli ..floral decorations and fireworks this festival heralds joy, mirth and happiness in the ensuring year!
Diwali or more aptly Deepavali is very enthusiastically celebrated for five continuous days and each day has its significance with a number of myths, legends and beliefs.
The word "Diwali" is the corruption of the Sanskrit word "Deepavali" - Deepa meaning light and Avali, meaning a row. It means a row of lights and indeed illumination forms its main attraction.
The First day is called DHANTERAS or DHANTRAYODASHI which falls on the thirteenth day of monthof Kartik. The word "Dhan" means wealth. As such this day of the five-day Diwali festival has a great importance for the rich mercantile community of Western India. Homes and Business premises are renovated and decorated. Entrances are made colourful with lovely traditional motifs of Rangoli designs to welcome the Goddess of wealth and prosperity. To indicate her long-awaited arrival, small footprints are drawn with rice flour and vermilion powder all over the houses. Lamps are kept burning all through the nights. Believing this day to be auspicious women purchase some gold or silver or at least one or two new utensils. "Lakshmi-Puja" is performed in the evenings when tiny diyas of clay are lighted to drive away the shadows of evil spirits. "Bhajans"-devotional songs- in praise of Goddess Laxmi are sung and "Naivedya" of traditional sweets is offered to the Goddess. There is a custom in Maharashtra to lightly pound dry coriander seeds with jaggery and offer as Naivedya.
A very interesting story about this day is of the sixteen year old son of King Hima. As per his horoscope he was doomed to die by a snake-bite on the fourth day of his marriage. On that particular fourth day of his marriage his young wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid all the ornaments and lots of gold and silver coins in a big heap at the entrance of her husband's boudoir and lighted innumerable lamps all over the place. And she went on telling stories and singing songs. When Yam, the god of Death arrived there in the guise of a Serpent his eyes got blinded by that dazzle of those brilliant lights and he could not enter the Prince's chamber. So he climbed on top of the heap of the ornaments and coins and sat there whole night listening to the melodious songs. In the morning he quietly went away.Thus the young wife saved her husband from the clutches of death. Since then this day of Dhanteras came to be known as the day of "YAMADEEPDAAN" and lamps are kept burning throughout the night in reverential adoration to Yam, the god of Death.

Back to the sweets now..... my Parents are with us during Diwali, so it is like a double celebration for me and M, especialy as it is my first Diwali after marriage!
I started by trying to make something 'different', but sadly that did not work out to my expectation, and after all the cleaning up and the excitement of having my parents arriving one day before Diwali, I decided to do what is the 'never- fail' recipe.... I wanted to make 'shankarpali'... but this time with a sure fire recipe... no time to experiment..

So I measured :
1 cup water
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
3 1/2 cups maida (All Purpose Flour)
2 pinches baking soda
Pinch salt
Oil for deep frying

Boil the water, oil and sugar. Switch off the heat.. Add maida, salt and B.Soda, mix well.. cover and keep aside for a while for the mixture to cool down. After that, knead the dough . Make smalls balls of the dough and roll out a chapatti. With the aid of a knife cut diamond shapes. Deep fry to a golden colour. Store in an airtight jar after they are completely cooled.
* Edited to add: one reader has supplied the following information: Kartik month (as per hindu moon calender)starts the day after the diwali.Dhanteras is the 13th day of Asweja month.

I also wish to state that the information I had was from a google search .

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JFI 6 - GHEE

RamPrasad Ladoo

Or let's say Whole Wheat flour ladoos... but my Father calls them Ram Prasad Ladoo.... I don't know why.. maybe his Mum called it that, maybe my Father made up this name! But this is a sweet my Father makes, and makes it very well, and I have wonderful memories of my Father slaving over the hot 'kadhai' and then rolling the knobbly ladoos because I ' want to eat some right now!'. I prefer this ladoo, over any other ladoo not just because of the wonderful memories attached to them but also because they are wholesome and tasty.
It seemed apt to make these on Dussehra.. also my entry for JFI- Ghee

I also found this interesting story behind the Dussehra celebration:
THE DUSSEHRA FESTIVAL falls during the moon lit fortnight, i.e., on the 10th. day of the waxing moon in the month of Kwar. Thus, this festival comes some time in September or October, depending on the Tithi (as determined by the Hindu calendar).

On this day in the Treta (or Trita) Yur, Ram (the 7th incarnation of Vishnu), killed the great demon Ravan, who had abducted Ram's wife Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. Ram, along with his brother Lakshman and follower Hanuman, and an army of monkeys fought a great battle to rescue his lovely wife Sita.

The war against Ravan lasted for ten days and the story of Ram and Sita is recounted with affection and love in the great epic Ramayana. To this day the whole of Ramayana is enacted in dramas staged in huge pandals and maidans, in cities, towns and villages. Beautiful tableaux of actors in costumes of ancient times are taken around the city before they culminate at the venue where the action takes place.

Ram was a great believer in the powers of goddess Durga, and he prayed to her for nine days before he himself entered the battlefield on the tenth day.

On this day he killed Ravan, Meghnad and Kumbhakaran, and people proclaimed it as the greatest victory of good over evil. The day became known as Dussehra and we still celebrate it with gusto, connecting us with the impotant events of the distant past. Huge effigies of Ravan, his brother Kumbhakaran and his son Meghnad are made, and filled with large quantities of crackers and fireworks. At just about sunset, an actor depicting Ram shoots an arrow from his bow, which hits the Ravan effigy in his navel (where a pot of nectar - the reason for Ravan's invincibility - was stored, and none could kill him unless he knew the secret of drying this nectar by shooting straight into the navel).
This was revealed to Ram by Ravan's own brother Vibhishan, who had changed sides and had become the great adviser to Ram on the affairs of Lanka. Similarly, the other two effigies are set alight. The effigies become a huge display of fireworks for the children and elders to feast their eyes on, and to bring delight to their hearts. A great deal of noise is made as the crackers burst and this provides joy and happiness. Children are given full liberty to buy bows, arrows and all the other items, which abound in the mela. In North India, the grounds where Ram Leelas are held are known as baaras and amateur actors get a chance to exhibit their talent to the full.

In Bengal the occasion is celebrated as the day on which Durga Ma killed the terrible demon Mahishasur (and the Goddess is also known as Mahishasurmardini). The essence is the same - this festival is celebrated all over India as a symbol of victory of good over evil.

For the ladoos :

2 cups Whole wheat flour

1 1/2 cups grated jaggery (equal amount of jaggery : wheat flour if you prefer sweet)

1 small spn. cardamom powder

3/4 cup Ghee


Heat a 'kadhai', roast the flour on ghee till it turns a warm light honey colour and the aroma wafts thru the kitchen to the other rooms! Add the grated jaggery, cardamom powder. Mix thoroughly and make ladoos while the mix is still warm.

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