Mohanthal

 Mohanthal is a Gujarati Recipe . It is a  traditional festive sweet made from gram flour and cooked slowly to a dense fudge garnished with nuts.

Ingredients 

Bengal Gram flour - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

ghee - 6 tbsp.

mawa / fresh cream - 100 g

almonds, pistachios - for garnishing

Preparation

1. Add 3 tbsp of ghee and 10 ml of milk into the gram flour in a plate and combine well with fingers to make a mixture that feels like coarse crumbs. Stir in the milk to the above coarse crumbs mixture and rub between the palms to combine well.

2.Heat the remaining ghee in a heavy bottomed pan and add the above flour mixture, stirring continuously for about 5 minutes.  Add mawa / fresh cream  until it changes into golden brown and releases a roasted aroma about 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in the nuts and cardamom until combined.

3.Transfer the mixture to a plate and let it cool down.

4.In another sauce pan; heat sugar with 1 cup water simmering it until it reaches a single thread consistency, about 10 minutes.

5.Transfer the mixture to the sugar syrup and combine well.

6.  Transfer the Mohanthal mixture into the tray, leveling such that the Mohanthal is about two inches in height.

7.Cut the Mohanthal into squares and allow it to cool on the tray . Once cooled completely, separate the squares and serve.

Gulab Jamun Recipe using Khoya | Khova

Gulab Jamun a much sort out Traditional dessert in India with soft and  spongy texture. Gulab jamun can be made from the ready made mix available in the market. Here I am making it with Khoya/ Mawa which can be made at home or you can get it ready made.

Ingredients

1 cup Khoya/ Khova

1/2 cup Maida/Plain Flour

1/8 tsp Baking soda

2 1/2 cup Sugar

1 1/2 cup Water

2 Cardamoms

Oil / Ghee for deep frying

For Khoya

Boil 1 Litre of full fat milk in a heavy based pan and cook in low flame until it becomes thick  and no liquid left over. this might take about an hour. keep stirring in between to prevent sticking. We will be able to get 1 cup of mawa/ Koya approximately.

If you are using ready made store  Khoya/Mava . Rub the khoya through a sieve with big holes to make it soft or you can use a grater  with big holes as it is easy for kneading. This step is not necessary, if  using homemade khoya..

For Sugar Syrup

Take a pan add sugar, water , elaichi. Bring the mixture to boil over high flame. Then reduce the flame and cook for 5 to 10 min so that sugar syrup is little sticky.Turn off the flame.

Jamun Preparation

1. Crumble the khoya before using it.

2. Add the flour and the soda with the crumbled khoya and start kneading the dough .Since the khoya is  moist we  need not  add milk .If you feel the dough is dry add just a tbsp of milk and knead to smooth dough.

3. Divide the dough and make smooth small balls . make sure there is no crack . If crack there it will break open while deep frying. if you have crack add a tsp of milk and knead the dough and start making balls.

4. Heat the oil/ ghee  in pan at medium heat.Drop the balls slowly and deep fry the balls and take it out from oil.

5. Add the deep fried Jamuns into the syrup.The syrup should be warm and not too hot.

6. Soak them atleast for 1 -2 hours before serving

Sweet Paniyaram

Paniyaram ,an all time favourite dish .......can be made both sweet or savoury. Here Iam making sweet version. To make Panniyaram we need Panniyarakkal. Here I have used the stone mould to make the Panniyaram. Non stick Mould are also available. I prefer the stone as the taste is much better than the non stick.






Ingredients

Boiled Rice / Idli Rice - 500 gm

Urad Dal - 3 tbsp.

Fenugreek Seeds - 3 tbsp.

Jaggery - 300 gm


Method:

Soak the boiled rice separately for atleast  4 hours. Soak the Urad dal and methi seeds together for an hour. First take the soaked Urad dal and methi seeds and put in the wet grinder/ mixer first . Add little water and grind until it become smooth . Then add the soaked rice to the wet grinder/ mixer and grind until smooth . Remove the batter in a vessel. Now take  the jaggery in a pan and sprinkle some water in it and heat it in medium flame until the jaggery melts. Now mix the melted jaggery into the batter. just pour little by little until the required sweet is needed. Just taste the batter. If the sweet is enough you can stop . if u want more sweet u can add until the required sweet is needed. Now keep the batter for half an hour.

Now take the Panniyarakkal . Heat it. Once heated pour oil /ghee in each mould. Need to be a little generous with oil/ghee. Then pour the batter in each mould . Flip the balls so that it boils on the other side too. Now the Panniyaram is ready to be served.


To Be Noted :


 1. Fenugreek seeds are just added for the flavour. if u want u can add more . make sure you don't add too much .
 2. If Urad dal and fenugreek seeds are added more the panniyaram will become soft and will stick to the pan.
 3. U can refrigerate  the batter and use it upto 2 days

Carrot Halwa/Gajar ka Halwa

Making this as my first dish is just that my family loves sweets. The carrots available in the market belongs to the juicy variety which are prefect to make  halwa..This dish needs patience as the cooking process  is slow , cut short methods are also available using Koya/ mawa are available which are equally good. I am preparing this dish by using  the Slow cooking process.


Preparation Time :15 min           Cooking time : 1 hour.
Dish : North Indian.                    Category : Dessert

Ingredients:
Carrots - 1/2 kg
Sugar -1/2 cup
Milk - 1/2 l
Cashewnut - 5
Pista, Raisin ,Almond -(optional)
Ghee - 4 tbsp
Cardamom -  2

Method:

1. Wash  carrots ,cut the ends ,peel skin and grate it

 2. Pour little ghee in a heavy bottomed vessel ,roast the nuts and raisins and keep it separately
 3 . Add the grated carrot in the left over ghee and stir until carrot gets cooked till the raw smell leaves which takes around 5 mins

4. Now add the milk and let it boil until all milk is absorbed.

5. Add Sugar .After a few minutes sugar will melt and become watery, keep stirring it at regular intervals. Sugar can be adjusted if need be.
6. Once it starts thickening , simmer it and add the remaining ghee , cashwenut ,Pista, and cardamom

7. Once the ghee oozes out in the sides u can turn off

Tips:

1. Milk can be replaced with Mawa.
2. Speeding the process can be done by cooking carrot in Microwave/Cooker.
3. Adding pistachios taste better and  looks rich
4.  Milk / Mawa  can be skipped by directly adding sugar after carrot cooks well
5. Heavy bottomed vessel is a must.