Chocolate Brownie Sizzler

Brownie Sizzler in Marathi

Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:
4 squares of chocolate brownies
Chocolate Sauce: 1 bar of milk chocolate, 1/2 cup whole milk
Pack of Vanilla Ice-cream
Sizzler Plate with wooden trey
Dry Fruits (walnut and almond pieces)

Method:
1) To make chocolate sauce, we need to melt the chocolate. Break the bar into pieces. Put in glass bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir with a whisker. Microwave for 10 to 15 more seconds if require. Work with chocolate very carefully. It gets burn if microwaved more than required.
2) Once chocolate is melted add milk and stir vigorously to get smooth, shiny chocolate sauce.
3) Microwave brownies for 10 to 15 seconds just to make them warm.
4) Heat a sizzler plate. Make it very hot. Carefully put the heated plate on wooden trey. Place brownies at the center. On top of each brownie place one scoop of vanilla ice-cream. Pour chocolate sauce on vanilla ice-cream and let it flow on the sizzler plate. Chocolate sauce will start sizzling. Garnish with walnuts and almonds. Serve immediately.

How to eat? - A small chunk of ice cream with a brownie piece and a bit of chocolate sauce.

Tips:
1) To avoid chocolate sauce from sticking to the sizzling plate. Place a piece of aluminum foil on hot sizzler plate.
2) After 30 seconds of microwaving chocolate, you will notice that chocolate has not melted and intact from the outside. Infact, it has melted from the inside. Hence, after first 30 seconds, stir the chocolate. You may need to microwave twice for 15 seconds. Each time, stir and check.
3) Eat with caution. If you spoon the chocolate sauce directly from the sizzling plate you will sizzle your tongue too !! [my own experience ;) ]

Homemade Mango Icecream

Mango Icecream in Marathi

Time: 30 to 35 minutes
Serves: 8 people

Ingredients:
1 cup Heavy whipping Cream, chilled
2 cup Mango Pulp chilled (I used ready-made sweetened pulp)
1/2 cup powdered Sugar
Cardamom Powder (Optional)

Method:
1) Take a big glass bowl and refrigerate it for half an hour before whipping the cream.
2) Pour the cold heavy whipping cream into chilled glass bowl. Using hand mixer, whisk the cream.
3) When cream starts becoming fluffy, add sugar in 2-3 batches and keep whisking. Do not whisk once cream becomes nicely fluffy. Over-whipped cream will begin to separate and curdle, and then turn to butter.
4) Add chilled mango pulp to whipped cream and fold with spatula. Also add cardamom powder or any other flavor (vanilla, mango etc) at this point. Mix nicely.
5) If you have ice-cream machine, churn the mixture as per the instructions written in the manual.
6) If you don't have ice-cream machine:-
i) Pour the mixture into a freezer safe plastic or metal container (Metal pan used for baking work too). Freeze the ice-cream mixture for an couple of hours. Then Remove it from freezer. Wait till it loosens a bit. Grind in a grinder for couple of minutes. Again freeze the mixture. Repeat this process for atleast 3-4 times to get smooth consistency.

Tips:
1) Home squeezed Alfonso mango pulp can be used instead of ready-made pulp. Squeeze out the pulp and strain through a strainer to get smooth pulp. Also, you need to add some more sugar as homemade pulp is not as sweet as ready-made one.
2) Roasted Khoya tastes great and gives nice texture. So add around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of khoya to the ice-cream mixture.
3) Chopped pistachio, almonds give a nice crunch.
4) Add small mango pieces after final grinding.

Mango Lassi

Mango Lassi in Marathi

Time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients:
3/4 cup Milk
1 cup Yogurt
3/4 cup Mango Pulp (I used readymade mango pulp)
4 tbsp Sugar
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
Crushed Pistachios for garnishing

Method:
1) Add milk, yogurt, mango pulp, sugar and cardamom powder to a blender. Blend until mixed well.
Pour into 2 serving glasses. Garnish lassi with pistachios and serve chilled.

Tips:
1) Readymade mango pulp was already sweetened. Therefore I used only 4 tbsp of sugar. Mango pulp can be prepared at home. Use good quality Alfonso mangoes. Peel and remove stone. Puree into blender and then strain. Follow the same method given above. Add some more sugar, as homemade pulp is not that sweet.
2) Use full fat plain yogurt for better results. Yogurt made at home is preferable. Readymade lowfat or fat-free yogurt has gooey texture which ruins the taste and texture of lassi.
3) Adjust the consistency to your own preference by increasing or reducing amount of milk.

Amrakhand

Amrakhand in Marathi

Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 5 to 6 people



Ingredients:
32 OZ cup of "Chobani" plain Greek Yogurt OR 1/2 kg chakka
3/4 to 1 cup mango pulp (I had used sweetened mango pulp)
1 cup sugar
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
2 tbsp Charoli (Chironji)
2 tbsp Pistachio, finely chopped

Method:
1) Hang Greek yogurt into a muslin cloth for about 8 to 10 hours or until all the water content drips out.
2) Take the pressed yogurt (chakka) into a big mixing bowl. Add 1/2 cup mango pulp and 1/2 cup sugar. Mix well. Leave it for 15 minutes until sugar dissolves. Check the taste. If you want more sweetness and mango flavor, add mango pulp. Add some sugar if needed. Churn it through Pooran Machine.
3) Add cardamom powder, charoli and pistachio. Chill in the refrigerator and serve with puri.

Tips:
1) Do not add entire amount of mango pulp and sugar. Once sugar dissolves in chakka, the consistency loosens. Therefore check the consistency and add sugar and mango pulp accordingly.
2) Fresh Alfonso mango pulp (homemade) can be used instead of canned mango pulp. In that case, you will have to add more sugar.
3) If you are using granulated sugar, you might not need to grind the chakka-sugar mixture through pooran machine.
4) Cardamom powder can be substituted by nutmeg powder.
5) Nuts other than pistachio like cashews, almonds can be added at your choice

Cake in Pressure Cooker

Pressure cooker Cake in Marathi

Time - Preparation: 25 minutes | Baking: 35 to 40 minutes.
Yield: 8 to 10 medium pieces

Ingredients:
3/4 cup All purpose flour
250 to 300 gram Condensed milk (1/2 to 3/4 cup)
1/4 cup Butter (unsalted)
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup carbonated water (soda water)

Method:
1) Take a big pressure cooker. Remove the ring and weight from the lid. Close the pressure cooker with lid. Heat it over high flame for 8 to 10 minutes. Do not add water.
2) Grease a baking pan with some butter. Sieve all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a medium bowl
3) Take another deep and medium mixing bowl. Add softened butter and condensed milk. Beat using hand mixer or egg beater. Mix until well blended and smooth. Add vanilla essence and blend for a minute.
4) Now, add half of the all purpose flour to butter and condensed milk batter. Mix with the hand mixer. Then add half of the soda water and blend. Then again add flour, followed by soda water. Mix well until smooth consistency.
5) Pour the batter into greased cake tin. To remove excessive air bubbles, hit the pan very gently on the counter-top. Remove the cooker's lid. Turn the heat to medium. Put the cake tin inside with help of Pakkad (Indian Tong). Put the lid on and bake for 35 to 40 minutes. Do not open the cooker for first 25 minutes.
6) After 25 minutes open the lid. You will notice cake has risen nicely, but its not cooked inside. You may check by poking with toothpick in the middle of the cake. If you find wet batter on the toothpick, that means cake needs 10 to 12 minutes more to bake. Put the lid on.
7) After 10 to 12 minutes again check with toothpick. If it comes out clean, that means cake is ready.
Turn off the heat and use Pakkad to remove cake tin out of pressure cooker.
Remove the cake out from the cake tin and put it on a wired rack to cool down. After 15-20 minutes, cut the cake and its ready to enjoy.

Tips:
1) To get the perfect sweetness, taste the batter before pouring into cake tin. If you feel that batter needs to be little more sweet, add some condensed milk.
2) Do not forget to remove Pressure cooker ring and weight. Also DO NOT add water in the cooker.
3) Use thick Aluminum Metal cake tin. Thin metal might crack due to high heat.
4) To make the cake in two colors. Divide the batter into two portions. Keep one portion as it is. Add 2 to 3 tbsp dark coco powder and some condensed milk. Mix well. First add white portion of batter and then pour chocolaty portion over the white one. Now bake as per above method.
5) First of all, check whether cake tin fits inside the pressure cooker.
6) Do not fill the cake tin completely. Batter level should be upto a little over half. Otherwise, cake will overflow out of the tin.

Dudhi Halwa

Dudhi Halwa in marathi
Time: approx 30 minutes
Servings: 3 to 4

Ingredients:
2 n 1/2 cup packed grated bottle gourd (First peel and deseed)
1 tsp ghee
3/4 cup condensed milk
1 tsp Chironji (Charoli)
1 tbsp Almond slivers, blanched and peeled
1 tbsp other dried fruits like cashews, pistachio, sliced
1/4 tsp cardamom powder

Method:
1) Heat a pan, add ghee and wait till it melts. The add bottle gourd. Cook over medium high heat. Stir continuously.
2) After 5 to 8 minutes, the water in bottle gourd will evaporate. Then check a little thread of bottle gourd and taste it. If you feel its under cooked, cook for few more minutes.
3) Add condensed milk and let it cook until nice and thick. Add chironji, and dry fruits. Stir nicely. Add cardamom powder and mix well.
Serve warm or cold. Both way, it tastes great.

Tips:
1) Do not cover the pan when cooking grated bottle gourd.
2) Adjust the amount of condensed milk as per your preference.

Dudhi halwa using Milk and sugar

Fruit Salad

Fruit Salad in Marathi

Time: 20 to 25 minutes
Serves: 4 to 5 persons

Ingredients:
1 medium banana
1 medium apple
1 medium orange
1/2 cup grapes
1/2 cup papaya, small cubes
Dry Fruits: - 2 tbsp sliced almonds, 1 tbsp sliced pistachio, 2 tbsp golden raisins, 1 tbsp cashews
1/2 cup condensed milk
1/2 cup milk

Method:
1) Preparation
Grapes: Use whole grapes. If the size is big, cut them into two halves. Also, use seedless grapes.
Orange: Peel the orange. Separate the wedges. Now remove skin and take out the fleshy part.
Papaya: Peel the papaya. remove seeds. Chop the papaya into medium cubes.
Banana: Peel the banana and make medium cubes.
Apple: Always cut the apple when you are ready to mix all the ingredients. Cut the apple, deseed and make small cubes.

Mix all the fruits. Add condensed milk and plain milk. [Amount of milk may vary. So first, add 1/4 cup of milk and 1/4 cup of condensed milk. Taste the fruit salad. If it is sweet enough then only add plain milk, if required.]
Add dry fruits, save some for garnishing.
Chill the fruit salad and serve as a dessert.

Tips:
1) You may add your choice of fruits like Chickoo, Pomegranate kernels, strawberries, Alfonso mango etc. [use any sweet or sweet and sour tasted fruits]

Eggless Vanilla Cake

Happy Valentine's Day

Eggless Vanilla Cake in Marathi

Time: Prep time - 25 to 30 minutes | Baking Time - 35 to 40 minutes
Yield: 10 small pieces

Ingredients:
3/4 cup All purpose flour
200 gram Condensed milk (1/2 cup + couple more tablespoons) (Tip 5)
1/4 cup Butter (unsalted)
1/2 tsp Baking powder
1/2 tsp Baking soda
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
1/2 cup carbonated water (soda water) (Tip 4)

Method:
1) Preheat oven at 350 F (180 C).
2) Sieve all purpose flour, baking soda and baking powder together into a medium bowl
3) Take another deep and medium mixing bowl. Add softened butter and condensed milk. Beat using hand mixer or egg beater. Mix until well blended and smooth. Add vanilla essence and blend for a minute.
4) Now, add half of the all purpose flour to butter and condensed milk batter. Mix with the hand mixer. Then add half of the soda water and blend. Then again add flour, followed by soda water. Mix well until smooth consistency.
5) Pour the batter into greased baking tin. To remove excessive air bubbles, hit the pan very gently on the counter-top. The pan goes into the oven for 35-40 minutes.
6) After 35-37 minutes poke at the center of cake with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, that means cake is ready. If you find wet batter on the toothpick, then bake for another 10 minutes.
Once cake is baked, remove it out from the cake tin and put it on a wired rack to cool down. After 15-20 minutes, cut the cake and its ready to enjoy.




Tips:
1) There are variety of cake tin shapes available in the market. You can make the above cake in heart, oval, round, square shape.
2) The above quantity is good for 2 to 3 people. So, double the amount of ingredients to make little larger cake.
3) For the above given ingredients, you will need little smaller cake tin. The cake tin which I used is approx 8 X 3". After pouring the batter into cake tin, the level should be around 1.5 to 2 inches from the bottom.
4) Do not use other sodas like coke, pepsi, ginger ale, lemon soda etc. Use plain soda water. Soda water makes the cake fluffier.
5) After mixing all the ingredients, taste the batter a little. If you want it little more sweet, add few tablespoon condensed milk. Mix well after adding it.

Gulpoli

Gulpoli in Marathi

Time: around 2 hours
Yield: approx 25 gulpoli

Ingredients:
Stuffing
1/2 kg Jaggery
1 cup Besan flour (Chickpea flour/ Gram flour)
1/2 cup Oil
2 halves of dry coconut
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1/2 cup poppy seeds
1/2 cup peanuts
Cover
1 and 1/2 cup maida
3/4 cup wheat flour
2 tbsp oil
Pinch of salt
2 tbsp besan (Optional)

Method:
1) Grate the dry coconut. Dry roast till golden brown. Gently crush with hands. We need around 1/2 to 3/4 cup of crushed coconut. If it is less, then grate some more coconut. Roast and crush it.
2) Dry roast sesame seeds, poppy seeds separately, till golden brown. Grind to a fine powder.
3) Dry roast peanuts. Remove the peels and grind the peanuts to a fine powder.
4) Heat a pan. Add 1/2 cup oil. Add 1 cup besan flour and roast till, you sense nice aroma and color changes til golden.
5) Grate the jaggery to a fine powder. Add all the roasted items to the grated jaggery. Knead to a semi-stiff dough.
6) Mix maida, wheat flour, salt and besan. Heat 2 tbsp oil to the smoke point. Add it to the flour mixture. Make a medium consistency dough by adding water. Use little oil if required. Let the dough rest for 15 minutes.
7) Divide the stuffing into 23 to 25 equal balls.
8) For the cover, we will need two equal dough balls for 1 stuffing ball. Therefore, the 2 dough balls should be slightly smaller than stuffing ball.
9) Sandwich the stuffing ball between two dough balls. Seal the edges. Use dry flour and roll it to a thin roti. While rolling, do not flip the sides.
10) Roast over medium-high heated tawa. Roast both the sides. Put it on a paper towel. Stack them into Chapati Container after cools off.
Gulpoli can be served warm or cold. It tastes delicious either way. Do not forget to put a dollop of desi ghee.
Gulpoli stays fresh for 8 to 10 days at room temp. Hence, you can stack some extra gulpoli and enjoy them for few more days.

Tips:
1) The proportion of the flours can be changed according to your preference. If you want firm and little crispy gulpoli, then use only maida and add hot oil. If you want soft gulpoli, then use wheat flour and do not use hot oil, use room temp. oil.

Malai Chops

Malai Chop in Marathi

Time: around 45 minutes
Yield: 6 to 8 small pieces

Ingredients:
Paneer
2 1/2 cup Milk (2 % reduced Fat)
1 tsp Vinegar
2 tbsp Water
Sugar syrup
1 cup Sugar
3 cup Water
Khoya Mixture
100 gram Khoya
2 tsp Sugar
4 tbsp whipping cream (Note 1)
small pinch of Saffron or edible Color (Note 2)
Cardamom Powder (Note 1)
1 tbsp Pistachio slices for garnishing

Method:
Paneer
1) To make Paneer, bring 2 1/2 cup milk to boil over medium heat (Avoid copper or aluminum cookware.). Keep stirring to avoid burning. In a small bowl, mix vinegar and 2 tbsp water. Add vinegar mixture slowly into boiling milk. Turn heat to medium low. Milk will start curdling immediately. Paneer granules and water will get separated completely. Line a muslin cloth over colander. Drain all the water. Wash Paneer granules with cold water. twist the cloth and squeeze out all the water.
2) Put squeezed paneer into a Thali (bigger plate). Knead the paneer well. Make a very smooth dough without any granules and lumps. Divide this dough into 8 equal balls. Gently Press each ball a little.
Sugar Syrup
3) In a deep pan, add sugar and water, stir. Once mixture starts boiling add Paneer balls. Cover with lid and cook for 20 to 22 minutes (Do not cover completely, Cover only 90 % of the pan surface). After 22 minutes, turn the heat off and let the Paneer balls rest for atleast 3 hours into sugar syrup.
Malai Mixture
4) Roast Khoya till color changes to light pink. Once become cold, crush the Khoya with fingers and crush all the lumps. Add whipping cream and sugar, mix well. Blend nicely to fine smooth paste. Add little edible color, mix evenly. Cover and store in the refrigerator.
5) After 4 hours, remove soaked Paneer balls from sugar syrup. Do not squeeze. Cut each piece horizontally into two equal parts. spread 1 tsp khoya mixture on one part and place second part on it. squeeze lightly. Garnish with Pistachio slices (Note 3).
Refrigerate fro an hour and then serve.

Note:
1) In readymade Malai sandwich, rose water is used in khoya mixture to give nice flavor. If you want to use rose water, skip cardamom powder, add 3 tbsp whipping cream and 1 tbsp rose water instead of 4 tbsp whipping cream.
2) You can use pinch of saffron instead of Saffron Color.
3) Use edible siliver foil to make it more attractive.

Pakatalya Purya

Pakatalya Purya in Marathi

Time: 25 to 30 minutes
Yield: 25 to 30 medium puris

Ingredients:
1 cup Maida
1/2 cup Semolina, fine quality
1 tbsp Oil
Pinch of Salt
Plain Yogurt (Tip)
For Sugar Syrup - 1 and 1/2 cup Sugar, 1/2 cup water
1/2 tsp Cardamom powder
4 Saffron strands
Ghee for deep frying puree (around 1 to 1 and 1/2 cup)

Method:
1) Mix maida and semolina into a bowl. Add 1 tbsp hot oil and pinch of salt. Add yogurt and knead to a stiff dough. Let it rest for an hour.
2) Boil sugar and water together and make 2 string consistency sugar syrup. Crush the saffron and 1 tsp sugar together and add it to the sugar syrup along with cardamom powder.
3) Divide the dough into equal size balls. The size of ball depends on how big you want the Puree. Roll each ball to a medium circle.
4) Heat ghee into a medium wok. Deep fry all the purees. Put them on a cooling rack to drip out excessive ghee and rest (Tip 3).
5) After 2 to 4 minutes of resting immerse puris into sugar syrup. Put 4-5 puris at a time. Soak them for 3-4 minutes now remove them from sugar syrup and put them on the rack again.
Garnish with coarsely ground pistachios.

Tips:
1) Yogurt should be sour in taste. Puris can be made without using yogurt. Knead the dough by using water. To give sour taste, add a tablespoon of lemon juice to the sugar syrup.
2) Instead of Ghee, Oil can be used for deep frying. However, Ghee gives a rich taste to the dish.
3) Place a plate under the cooling rack. Ghee will drip in the plate and can be use for other cooking purposes.

Gulab Jamun

Gulab Jamun In Marathi

Approx 15 to 18 medium Gulabjamun
Time: approx 1 hour 15 minutes

Ingredients:
250 gram Khoya (Use special Gulabjamun Khoya)
Sugar Syrup::::
1 and 1/2 cup sugar
1 and 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
Other ingredients::::
Oil of Ghee to deep fry Gulabjamun
1 tbsp Maida (All purpose flour)
Milk as needed (You will need very little, may be few tsps)
Pinch of Baking Soda

Method:
1) Grate the khoya. Sprinkle all purpose flour and baking soda over grated khoya. Mix. Drizzle little milk and knead to medium consistency dough. Use very little ghee if needed. Cover the dough with a damp clean cloth.
2) Make one thread consistency sugar syrup. To make it, mix sugar and water in a deep medium pan. Boil and make one thread consistency syrup. While sugar syrup is getting ready, divide the dough into equal small balls (1 and 1/2 cm to 2 cm). Give them a smooth round shape. There should not be any cracks on the surface.
3) Heat the oil over high heat and them turn the heat to medium low. Oil temperature is a very important while frying the gulabjamun balls. To check the temperature, drop one ball in the heated oil. If it floats immediately on the oil surface and start browning, the oil is hot. So wait for couple of minutes to get the right oil temperature.
If the dough ball sits at the bottom of kadai for few seconds and rises slowly, this is the right temperature. Then, you can drop multiple jamun balls into the oil. Turn and roll them with slotted spoon to get same color at all sides. Fry them into batches. Cook them until they become reddish brown in color. Remove the first batch of fried jamun out of the oil and let them rest for couple of minutes. Then put them into hot sugar syrup. Repeat the same process for other jamun balls. One thing to remember that sugar syrup should not be boiling hot or warm. It should be in the middle.
Let the jamun soak into the sugar syrup for atleast 5 to 6 hours. For better results, soak them overnight.

Tips:
1) Some people like a nice aroma of rose to the Jamun. For that, add 1 or 2 drops of rose essence in the sugar syrup.
2) You can give little twist to the traditional recipe. While make balls out of dough, place a small piece of dry fruit (cashew, pistachio), small piece of rock sugar or a seed of cardamom in the center of the ball. Then fry them normally.
3) You can replace all purpose flour with Araroot powder or corn flour.
4) Oil temperature is very important while frying the Gulabjamun. If the oil is too hot, jamun will get reddish color immediately. however inside, they will remain uncooked. Therefore adjust the oil temperature first.
5) Sugar syrup should be one thread consistency. Thick sugar syrup is hard to absorb into the gulabjamun.

Sabudana Sevai Kheer

Sabudana Sevai Kheer in Marathi

Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 2 persons

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Sabudana (Sago)
2 tbsp Sevai
1/2 tsp pure ghee
3 cup Milk
1/4 cup Condensed Milk (Sweetened)
1/4 tsp Cardamom powder
Almond Cashewnuts slices

Method:
1) Soak Sabudana in water and drain all the water after a minute. Keep covered for atleast 3 hours.
2) Once sabudana is soaked, proceed with the recipe. Heat a thick bottom pan over medium low heat. Add 1/2 tsp ghee. Add sevai and roast over medium heat. Keep stirring until sevai turn into light pink color.
3) Once sevai turned into light pink color, add milk and cook over medium heat. Stir from the bottom to avoid burning. Cook for 5 minutes.
4) Add soaked Sabudana and cook over medium heat. After 2-3 minutes, add condensed milk, cardamom powder, and Almond slices. Also, keep stirring Kheer so that it won't burn at the bottom.
5) After few minutes Sabudana become translucent and start floating on the top. This is a sign that sabudana are almost cooked. Boil over medium for about 3-4 minutes.
Serve lukewarm as dessert.

Tips:
1) By adding condensed milk, you don't have to add sugar and Kheer gets the required thickness in less time. If you don't have condensed milk, use 4 cups of normal milk instead of 3 cups. Add sugar to taste (approx 3 to 4 tbsp). Also, after adding sevai boil for few minutes more.
2) The consistency of this kheer should not be very thick or very thin.
3) Serve this kheer when it's lukewarm. It does not taste good cold because Sabudana soak the milk and get swollen and mushy.
4) Add saffron while boiling the milk. It will give nice flavor and color to the Kheer.

Falooda

Falooda in Marathi

Servings: 4
Time: 10 minutes (If all ingredients are ready to serve)


Ingredients:
8 scoops of Vanilla Icecream
1/2 cup Rooh afza Rose syrup
2 tbsp Sabja seeds (Falooda Seeds)
2 to 3 cups cold Milk
2 tbsp dry fruits, crushed
1 packet Falooda Sevai
1 cup Strawberry flavored Jelly
Some Cherries for garnishing

Method:
1) Set jelly into refrigerator atleast 5 hours before serving, just follow the instructions on the packet.
2) Soak 2 tbsp Sabja seeds for 2 hours into 1/2 cup water.
3) Heat 1 liter water, let it boil. Add Falooda sevai and cook it for 4 to 5 minutes. drain out hot water and transfer cooked sevai into cold water.
4) Mix Milk and rose Syrup. Add little more rose syrup, if needed.
5) Take 4 glasses, First add 1 tbsp soaked sabja seeds, jelly pieces, cooked sevai, milk, 1 scoop Ice-cream and little more jelly again. Add mixture of rose syrup and milk. Place a scoop of Vanilla ice-cream. Garnish with dry fruits and cherry. Serve immediately. Insert 1 straw and spoon while serving.

Tips:
1) Add a layer of some sweet and sour fruits like grapes, pineapple chunks, strawberry to Falooda. It will taste good and make it more attractive.

Dudhi Halwa (Lauki Halwa)

Dudhi Halwa in Marathi

Time: approx 1 hour
Serves: 4 people (yield: around 1 and half to 2 cups)

Ingredients:
3/4 Kg Bottle gourd
1 and 1/2 cup milk
2 tsp Ghee
3/4 cup Khoya
3/4 cup Sugar
1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
Dry fruits pieces (I used Chirounji, cashew, almonds)

Method:
1) Peel and grate bottle gourd. Squeeze out and reserve the water. Use reserved water for making soup, sambar or Dal.
2) In a deep pan, heat 2 tsp Ghee. Add grated and squeezed bottle gourd and saute for 2 to 4 minutes. Then add 1 and 1/2 cup milk and let the bottle gourd cook over medium heat. Cover the pan while cooking.
3) Once milk is absorbed, check whether bottle gourd is cooked or not. If you get little rawness, add little milk and cook for some more time. Then add Khoya. Remove all the lumps from khoya.
4) Five minutes after adding khoya, add sugar, cardamom powder, dry fruits and stir well. Keep the flame low. After adding sugar, halwa will become little watery. But within 5 to 7 minutes it will start thickening. Keep stirring until you get perfect consistency dudhi halwa.
Serve Halwa hot or cold.

Note:
1) Bottle gourd should be fresh and seedless.
2) If you have leftover Pedha, use it instead of khoya. But reduce the quantity of sugar as pedha already have some sugar.

Semai Kheer

Shevai Kheer in Marathi

Serves: 2 to 3 persons
Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:
1/4 cup Vermicelli
1/2 tsp pure Ghee
3 and 1/2 to 4 cups Milk
1/4 cup Sugar
2 pinches of cardamom powder
2 tbsp Pistachio and Almonds pieces

Method:
1) Soak Almonds for 3 hours. Peel and make thin slices. chop Pistachios coarsely.
2) Heat a medium sized deep pan over low heat. Add Ghee and vermicelli and roast until color changes to light pinkish golden. Don't roast until brown in color, it won't taste good.
3) Transfer roasted vermicelli into a bowl. In that same pan, add milk and bring it to boil. Add roasted vermicelli, sugar and cardamom powder. Let the Vermicelli cook over medium low heat. Stir in between, otherwise milk and vermicelli can stick to the bottom of the pan. Cover for few minutes, it will help to cook vermicelli faster.
4) Once milk is thickened and vermicelli are cooked nicely. turn off the heat. Garnish with Almond-pistachio slices. Serve hot or chilled.

Eggless Cake (Date and Walnut)

Eggless Cake in Marathi

Ingredients:
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup water for soaking
1/4 cup walnuts
Sweetened condensed milk 7 oz (3/4 cup + 2 tbsp)
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp Vanilla extract

Method:
1) Soak chopped dates in 1/4 to 1/2 cup lukewarm water for 30 minutes. Then puree by adding very little water which has used for soaking.
2) Preheat oven at 325 F (160 C). Sift All purpose flour, baking powder and baking soda together for 2 to 3 times. Add melted butter, condensed milk and Vanilla extract. Mix, add Dates paste. Fold in chopped walnuts.
3) Grease oven safe pan with little butter. Pour batter and plain the surface with spatula. Place on middle oven rack. Bake for atleast 45 minutes.
4) After 45 minutes turn off the oven, keep the pan inside for 5 minutes.
5) After 5 minutes, remove pan from oven and keep on wiring rack. Let it cool down. Carefully remove cake out of the pan. Let it cool down completely before cutting.
Make slices and store in airtight container.

Labels:
Eggless cake, Cake without egg, walnut cake, Date eggless cake

Instant Shrikhand recipe

Shrikhand in Marathi


Ingredients:
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of saffron
1 tbsp Lukewarm Milk
3 tbsp Yogurt
1/2 tsp Cardamom
Almond, Cashew nuts pieces for garnishing

Method:
1) Mix Saffron in Lukewarm milk. Mix Sour Cream and Sugar nicely until sugar dissolves. whisk Yogurt and add it to sour cream. For flavor, add Cardamom Powder. To give nice color, add Saffron mixture. mix nicely. Garnish with Almond and pistachio pieces. Refrigerate for 2 to 3 hours. Serve chilled.

Also see Recipe for Puri
Note:
1) Always keep shrikhand refrigerated. It melts at room temperature.

Chakka for Shrikhand

Shrikhand from Homemade Chakka

Shrikhand Puri

Shrikhand in Marathi

serves: 2 people

Ingredients:
125 gram Chakka (From Yogurt) (approx 1 and 1/4 cup)
1/2 cup granulated Sugar (100 to 150 Gram)
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
1/2 tsp Charoli (chironji), 1 tbsp Pistachio slices, 1 tbsp Almond slices for garnishing.
3 ft X 3 ft Muslin Cloth
Puran Yantra I used (Fine mesh skimmer)


Instant Shrikhand by using Sour Cream

Method:
1) Place Chakka into a bowl add powdered sugar. Mix well.
i) Puran Yantra
If you have Puran Yantra, add this mixture to it and blend nicely.
ii) Skimmer
Put 2 to 3 tbsp mixture into skimmer. prass with spoon and let the Chakka mixture pass through the fine mesh. It will help to break all the lumps and make Chakka mixture smooth.
2) Add Cardamom Powder, Charoli, Pistachio slices, Almond slices. Mix well.

Chill and serve with Puri

Notes:
1) Adjust the sugar according to your taste.
2) Add pinch of Saffron color to give nice yellow taste. Or add 3 to 4 strands of saffron for nice flavor and color.
3) Good Shrikhand is all about texture. Smoother the texture, better it will taste. Shrikhand should not have any granularity. If you feel granules in shrikhand, you need to use mesh skimmer again.
4) If you are preparing Chakka at home, make sure to use good quality organic yogurt. And remove water completely from it.

Idli Rava Khandvi

Idli Rava Khandavi in Marathi

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Idli Rava
1/2 cup Jaggery, grated
1 cup Water
2 tbsp Ghee
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder
1/4 cup Fresh Coconut, grated

Enjoy Khandvi during Fast

Method:
1) In a nonstick pan, heat Ghee over medium heat and roast Idli Rava till color turns Pink. Boil 1 cup water in other pan and pour it in roasted Rava. Stir nicely and remove lumps with spatula, if any. Turn the heat over medium low. Cover the pan with lid and let it cook for couple of minutes.
2) After 2-3 minutes, add grated coconut, Cardamom Powder and Jaggery. stir nicely. Cover again and let it cook for 3 to 4 minutes.Mix well and remove all the lumps. Turn the heat on medium. Cover the pan with lid and let it cook for few minutes.
3) Grease a stainless steel plate with little ghee. Pour all the mixture in the plate and spread evenly to make 2 cm layer. Sprinkle grated coconut on it and Cut into 2 inch pieces.

Note:
1) In grocery stores, there are various Idli Rava brands available with different quality. Some has fine granules, some has little bigger granules. To make the perfect consistency Khandvi Mixture, Use water in the following proportion.
Rava with Fine Granules = 1 Portion Rava : 2 Portions Water
Rava with bigger Granules = 1 portion Rava : 2 1/2 Portions Water