Peanuts - Coconut Chikki

I love this version of chikki - although using Sugar instead of Jaggery in this version but it's ok to binge once in a while :-) and unlike other sweets we eat small portions of these ... so not too much sugar goes in anyway.

Very few ingredients and quite easy.  Here we go..

Ingredients: 

1 cup peanuts
0.5 cup Desiccated coconut
a little less to 1.5 cups sugar - I used castor sugar.
2 tsp ghee and little more to grease.

Procedure:

1. Dry roast peanuts in a Kadhai / Pan and when cooled down peel them off.

2. Dry roast coconut just for 3-4 minutes until raw smell goes away and add it to the peanuts.

3. Once cooled, grind them in a mixer to a little coarse consistency as the coarse peanuts tastes 
    better in chikki.

4. In a heavy base pan pour in the little Ghee ( 2 tsp ).

5. Once melted, add the sugar.

6. Once the sugar starts melting, keep stirring and make sure it doesn't stick to the pan.

7. Keep stirring until we reach the caramel stage. ( See pic below )

8. Switch off the flame and pour in peanuts - coconut ground mixture in it and start mixing well.

9. On a greased platform / Baking paper pour in this mixture fully and start rolling it into a spread.
     For thickness see the photo below.

10. While its hot use either a greased knife or a Pizza cutter to form shape of squares.

11. Let it completely cool down.

12. Comes out very crunchy and super yummy Chikis....

Note: You have to be a bit quick for steps 8,9 process and careful too !

Enjoy :-)

                                             Coarse powder of roasted peanuts and coconut

                                             Sugar on little Ghee - ready to caramelise

                  Wait until this stage comes in ..but not too much otherwise burnt flavour will get added in

                                              Rolled out mixture and  shaped into squares

                                              Ready !!!!!!  they were amazingly crunchy and perfect sweet.

Chocolate Tartlets with Almond flakes

   

Chocolate Tart

The name may give an impression of  "difficult recipe"  but believe me...its one of the easiest baking recipes
especially in today's time when you can buy Pastry ;-)
I have used a Shop bought pastry so I admit little bit of cheating is there..but hey ho.. some trade off between time and tedious recipes is allowed isn't it :-)

Let's get started then... as they say in Great British Bake off... get set Bake!

Ingredients :

500gm Shortcrust pastry ( I used fresh version of Jus-Roll  Shortcrust Pastry )
250gm double cream
250gm Dark chocolate
( I used Sainsbury's dark chocolate bar which was 50% dark having sugar in it already )
Almond Flakes for garnishing

Tools or Requirements : 10cm Tartlet tin  or  one Big 24cm Pie dish
                                            Baking paper cut into squares much bigger than size of pie dish
                                            Ceramic beans for blind baking

Makes : 12-14
Procedure:

1. As per the packet instructions, freeze the Pastry pack on the day of shopping and then remove and keep it into Fridge overnight before use and/or when you are going to prepare immediately, keep at room temperature for 45 minutes before use.
2. Preheat the Oven at 200 DEG C
3. Meanwhile, grease the Tartlet tins with butter.
4. Take a chunk of Pastry and roll out to line one large pie dish or small Tartlet tin.
5. Using your hands lift the pastry up and allow the pastry to drop into the edge of dish.
6. Go around and push it in to the sides make sure it is absolutely pushed to the side ( into the ridges of pie dish )
7. Line the baking paper into each Tartlet tin or one big pie dish. Push it gently so that it is placed on the pastry properly.
8. Fill with baking beans and bake for 12-14 minutes in oven.
9. Remove the baking beans and paper and bake for another 8-10 min until the base turns golden brownish. Do not bake it until very brown which makes the base easy to break.
10. meanwhile heat the Cream and chocolate together in a pan over medium heat and stir continuously until the mixture becomes smooth and thick.
11. If the base is baked, remove from oven and keep it aside to cool down properly.
12. Once cooled, pour the chocolate mixture into the tart shell and arrange Almond flakes the way you like.
13. Chill in the Fridge for 60 minutes or until set.
14. You can also add any cake decorative stuff you get in baking section. :-)

Enjoy the dessert...and do let me know if you have any questions!

Thanks..

Shreekhand

Shreekhand

Shreekhand Puri

Needless to introduce a famous Dessert from India...

This is an easy version of Shreekhand and quite tasty too.
This will turn a dry ..hot.. sunny day into a sweet.. cool.. day ...
Enjoy!!

Ingredients:

500gm Greek style Yoghurt or a Natural set Yoghurt
100 gm Castor sugar ( or to your taste )
pinch of Nutmeg powder
couple of Cardamom ground into powder
few strands of Saffron

Accessories:
Muslin cloth ( usually comes in a large square shape )
Long and thick Thread for hanging

Procedure:

1. Pour the yoghurt into a double layered Muslin cloth in the center and lift all the four corners and tie them together tightly.
2. Tie this bundle onto a Kitchen Tap and leave it hanging overnight or while you leave home for work in the morning. In short for around 8 hours.
3. You can leave a container below this to collect the whey water and reuse it or just let it go. ( I use it while kneading a Chapati dough  sometimes ).
4. After 8 hours, give a gentle press on the bundle to remove remaining water for the last time and untie the bundle.
5. Scrap and remove all the yoghurt and shift into a bowl.
6. Add Sugar and give a nice mix.
7. Add cardamon powder,Nutmeg powder and Saffron.
8. Mix well, taste if all OK and ready to serve.

See how Easy!!

Serve with hot Poori ...

Have a sweet Sunday lunch :-)

श्रीखंड ,Dessert de yaourt,Joghurtnachtisch,Dessert di yogurt,Postre de yogur,ของหวานโยเกิร์ต,ヨーグルトデザート,Γιαούρτι επιδόρπιο

Groundnut-Almond chikki

Chikki

Indian version of Flapjack  :-)

Quick to prepare and Healthy too..

Makes : Approximately 10-12

Ingredients:  

1/2  cup coarse Groundnut powder *
1/3 cup Sugar ( you can use jaggery instead of Sugar too )
1.5 Table spoon Ghee ( तूप )
1 Table spoon Almond powder ( Just grind few Almonds )

I would suggest to use a non stick pan for this recipe.

Procedure:

1. Pour ghee in a pan. Once it melts, add sugar. (Keep the flame on low-medium so that no fear of burning the ingredients.)
2. Keep stirring the mixture well.
3. Approximately after 5 - 5.30 minutes you will see the texture of sugar will change and the whole mixture will get a mercury type consistency.
4. Add the groundnut and almond powder in it. Stir gently.
5. Mix well, let the whole mixture come together well. Stir for around 30 seconds and switch off the heat.
6. Pour the mixture on a greased plate or an aluminium foil. ( I used ghee and applied it on a foil )
7. Spread well by patting it with greased spatula or the wooden spoon you used to stir in the mixture. (This should be done as fast as possible since as the mixture starts to cool down it will not be possible to mold them into any shape.)
8. Use knife or a pizza cutter and roll into the mixture and create square shapes into it.
9. Just after 30-60 seconds you will see the Chikkis get stiff.
10. Keep it aside to cool down fully for approximately 10 min.
11. Ready to eat!!  

Chikkis

* : I roasted Groundnuts in Microwave for around 2 minutes and then powdered it in a food 
     processor.

Labels:

Arachides,Erdnüsse,arachidi,アメリカホドイモ〔ピーナッツ〕,
Kadalekai Chikki

Caramelized Sweet-Potato Slices

A very very easy to prepare and less time consuming dish...give it a try

Caramelized Sweet Potato

Preparation Time : 5 Minutes

Serves : 2

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium big Sweet Potato ( I bought the Purplish colored one ) sliced into thin wafer thin slices.
2. 1/2 cup Jaggery or to your taste
3. 2 TSP Ghee or purified butter
4. couple of pinches of Cardamom powder

Procedure:

1. In a heavy base pan pour Ghee and let it melt.
2. Once melted add the slices to it.
3. Give a gentle stir 2-3 times and cover the pan with lid on slow flame for 3-4 min.
4. Open the lid and give a stir and close again for another 4-5 min and cook on the slow flame only.
5. See if the slices are cooked, add jaggery to to the pan.
6. Slowly the jaggery will melt and you need to keep stirring so that it wont burn.
7. Cover with lid again and cook for 3-4 min or until slices are well cooked.
8. When cooked,switch off the hob and add cardamom powder and mix well.
9. Serve hot.

Do not cook on high flame to avoid slices getting burnt or Jaggery getting burnt.

Labels: Sweet Potato,patate douce,Süßkartoffel,patata dolce,batata,रताळ्याच्या गोड फोडी,

              मीठे आलू.            

Chenna Poda-Oriya Sweet / Paneer Cake/ Milk Cake

Chenna Poda/ Paneer Sweet/Paneer Peda

I heard about this from a friend and went for it....It is a traditional Oriya sweet. Made up with Home made Paneer. just 4 ingredients and super easy process...its little crispy outside and spongy soft inside...I would say a must try recipe...


Ingredients:
3 cups of Milk - This gives approx. 150gm of Paneer
1/2 Lemon's juice
5 gm Semolina
40gm Sugar
powder of 1 cardamom
To try at first time, take this much quantity, when you are happy with it,increase the quantity of milk in order to increase quantity of Paneer. For 800gm of paneer take 20gm of Semolina(Sooji/Rava)


Procedure:

1. In a non stick pan keep mil for boiling on medium flame. Keep stirring so that milk doesn't stick at the bottom of the pan.
2. Once the mil come to the proper Boil, switch off the stove.
3. Add the lemon juice. Give a stir.
4. Milk will start to curdle. Let it settle for couple of minutes and you will see the total separation of curdle milk and water.
5. Keep the oven to preheat at 160 deg.C
6. Drain the water through a muslin/cotton cloth and collect the curdled milk. Flow cold water on the Paneer/Chenna.
7. Remove the Paneer from the cloth totally and put it in a bowl.
8. Add semolina,add sugar,add cardamom powder and knead the paneer for 5-7 minutes until it becomes soft.Consistency of the paneer will be very soft. It is not a fluid batter consistency nor like a Chapati Dough. Something in between.
9. Oven must have been reached a decent hot temperature now.
10. Grease a pan with butter or Ghee and keep the Paneer mixture in it and keep for baking.
11. Bake for 30 minutes or until the upper layer turns light golden brown. After 30 minutes switch off the oven but keep the pan inside oven to get baked in that heat.
12. Remove after 5 minutes and cover the pan with  aluminium foil airtight.
13. After almost 30 minutes, see if it has cooled down. 
14. Remove the paneer from the pan and slice it with knife.

It is not at all a heavy dessert. Treat yourself with a nice soothing paneer Poda :-)

Tag: Paneer,Chenna

Paneer from 3 cups of Milk

Dates Burfy / Khajoor Burfy

Nothing to talk about this sweet. Just do it! :)

Ingredients: 


Around 245 gm De seeded dates

Dry fruits : Almonds, Pistachio  - 50 gm together and  crushed coarsely.

Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp

1 tsp poppy seeds - dry roasted 

2 Tsp Ghee


Procedure:

1. Put these de seeded dates in Mixer and crush them.
2. Heat up 2-3 Tsp Ghee in a pan.  Add crushed Dry fruits and stir for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the crushed Dates to this pan. Stir for maximum 2 minutes on a medium flame of stove. (If you smell of a roasted Dates, immediately switch off the gas).
4. Let the mixture cool down now for 5 min.
5. Add Cardamom powder to the mixture.
6. Apply little ghee on your palms and knead the mixture well to get a smooth texture without lumps. 
7. Make a cylindrical shaped roles out of this mixture. As shown in the second image.
8. Wrap the roles in aluminium foil like chocolates. And it should be tightly wrapped.
9. Keep the roles in fridge for 4-5 hours.
10. Take out the roles and cut it into round shaped Burfy.

#sugarfree #dates #almonds #pistachio #healthysweets

Jaggery coated Walnuts

It is healthy, Easy,tasty,fast recipe. Maximum time it takes is 5 min :)  Children will feel its Chocolate and have it...:)

Ingredients:


100 gm Walnuts cut into halves
120gm Jaggery  ( take as per your taste. You can decide at the once you finish reading recipe)


Procedure:

1. Cut the walnuts into halves.
2. Pour Jaggery on Non stick Tava and heat Tava. Let the jaggery melt.
3. Once it is melted, give 2 min. It will start leaving sides of the Tava/pan.
4. Add Walnut halves into melted jaggery.
5. Stir well in order to apply the Jagger to all the sides of walnuts.
6. Cook for 2-3 min.
7. Switch off the stove.
8. Before the Tava/pan cools down. Transfer the walnuts with spoon on a foil sheet one b one. Keep them separated. If Tava/pan becomes cool while you transfer walnuts will stick to the pan since jaggery will become hard. So if it is hard, switch on the stove again let it melt and then transfer again. 

     9.  It will take few minutes. 2-3 min to cool down the walnuts.

     

 Ready!!!!!!!!

Coconut Ladoo

Another traditional recipe......yummy...my favourite and easiest and fastest desert according to me


Serves : 9 small


Ingredients: 


2 Cups grated coconut ( if you are using frozen coconut, make sure you de freeze it for couple of hours or enough to remove icy particles in it. Even I used frozen one.)
Half cup Sugar
Almonds 
Cardamom powder ( 2-3 cardamom pods )
Half cup  Milk


procedure:

1. In a non-stick pan add grated coconut and milk together.
2. On a medium flame, keep it stirring until it comes to a thicker consistency. When you start, it will leave oil on the sides due to coconut. But a continuous stir makes it better cooked.
3. Once the mixture is become thick in consistency, add cardamom powder and almond pieces.
4. Add sugar. Again the mixture become fluidly.  Keep stirring and avoid sugar getting burnt at bottom of pan. Stir well continuously.
5. Mixture will become thick again. And once it reaches thick consistency. Switch off the stove immediately. 
6. Keep it aside to become cool.
7. Once cooled totally. Apply little Ghee on palms and role the mixture into round Ladoo.