Date-Honey Pongal - delightfully different, but very tasty!! Raw rice - 1 cup Moong dhal - ½ cup Milk + water - 2+4 cups Jaggery - 1 ½ cups (boil with ½ cup water to dissolve & strain) Dates - 8-10, chopped (depend on how sweet you want it) Honey - 2-4 tbsp (depend on how sweet you want it) Ghee - 2 tbsp Dry ginger powder - 1 tsp Cardamom powder - 1 tsp To garnish - roasted cashews Wash & soak rice & dhal together for 30 mts. Drain & add to boilng milk + water + 1 tbsp ghee in a pressure pan. When the mixture starts boiling vigorously, close the cooker, keep the weight & simmer. Cook for 10 mts – do not wait for whistle. Cool, open & add the jaggery water. When well blended add dates and honey. Blend & simmer. Add spice powders & remove. Decorate with cashews roasted in remaining ghee.
Fruit Phirni - serve this cold. Milk - 1 litre Thin poha - 1 cup Sugar - ¾ cup (or less) Cornflour - 3 tsp (mixed with 2 tbsp cold milk) Sliced apples, bananas, grapes, pomegranate etc to taste and amount Roast poha on a dry kadai on a low fire till very crisp, but white. Cool and powder. Boil milk, add this poha powder, stirring well. Cook on a medium flame for 7,8 mts. Add cornflour mixture, stirring to avoid lumps. Simmer till thick & add sugar. Switch off & keep covered. After 10 mts, open, mix well & cool. Add desired fruits.
Jackfruit Payasam - make this without milk. Basmathi (or any thin rice) - 1/4 cup Khuskhus - 2 tsp Grated coconut - 2 tbsp Powdered jaggery - 1/2 cup Jackfruit segments - 12 no:s Cardamom powder - 1 tsp Ghee - 1 tbsp Chopped cashews & raisins - to garnish Lightly roast rice & khuslhus & powder together as fine as possible. Then add coconut & grind, next adding jaggery with enough water to make a paste. Chop fruit fine & boil in 1 litre of water till soft. Add the paste, stirring well till it starts boiling. Simmer to sauce consistency, add cardamom powder & remove. Garnish with cashews & raisins fried in ghee.
Mango Cream - it is not a sin to indulge in mango+cream! Ripe mango cubes - 1-11/2 cups Cream - 1 cup Milk - 1 -11/2 cups Sugar - 2-3 tbsp Cinnamon powder - 1 tsp (optional) Mint leaves - to decorate I used cream powder today for this. I added 150 ml of water& whisked together. Boil milk + cream +mangoes + sugar + cnnamon powder, blending well. Lightly mash mangoes to release the flavour. When creamy, remove, cool & pour in glasses. Garnish & freeze.
Mango cheesecake - its' mangoes everywhere! For the sponge cake, go to Eggless Milkpowder Cake You can cut out horizontally into 2 & use one layer for this. For the soaking syrup, warm & mix: Water - 1 cup Sugar - 1 tbsp Pour this over the cake in a dish & keep ready. For the filling: Cream cheese - made from 1 litre milk (given below) Sugar - ¾ cup Mango pulp (or chopped) - 1-2 cups Cream - ½ cup Thick curds - 4 tbsp To garnish - mango slices Liquidise the filling ingredients, except cream. Whip cream & fold into the filling. Spread this over the soaked cake & refrigerate till set. Serve chilled with mango slices or mango roses. Select a firm ripe mango & peel the skin. Peel very thin , long “flakes” (as for tomato roses) & roll them to look like roses. Cream cheese: Boil 1 litre of milk & remove, After 4-5 mts, add 1 tsp citric acid mixed with ½ cup of warm water. The mixture will curdle. Strain using a muslin cloth & liquidise the soft paneer when still hot.
Cream Chocolate Cheesecake - you will not say ‘no’ to this! Fresh cream - ½ cup Crust: Digestive biscuits - 100 gms Butter - 50 gms Powdered sugar - ¼ cup In a double boiler cook together: Butter - 2 tbsp Dark cooking chocolate - 1 cup Cool well . Add this to cream & beat well. Crush biscuits fine, add softened butter & sugar. Press firmly into a 7-8” greased baking dish. Top with cream-cooked chocolate mixture. Chill & serve.
Karamani Payasam (white chawli kheer) - delicious & ideal for naivedyam I tried this with white karamani (white chawli or black eyed chick peas) Chawli - ½ cup Milk - 2 cups Coconut milk - 1 cups (3/4 cup grated coconut +1/2-3/4 cup warm water/) Grated jiggery - 1 cup Cardamom powder - 1/w2 tsp Roast karamanion a dry kadai on a low flame till a very good aroma comes. Soak for 5-6 hrs. Wash very well & cook in a pressure pan with 1 cup of water till very soft - for 15 mts on sim after the first whistle comes. Cool, open & lightly mash well with potato masher – do not use the blender or mixie.. Add milk & cook for 10 mts till the mixture is well-blended. In the meanwhile, in another vessel, mix grated jaggery with just 2 tbsp of water on a low fire & melt it completely. Keep the coconut milk also ready. Remove the payasam mixture from the stove, add strained jaggery & coconut milk. Continuously stir for 5 mts. Add cardamom powder & keep covered. Open & serve after 10 mts.
Badham Phirni - quick-to-fix dessert!! Milk - 500 ml Rice flour - 2 (slightly heaped) tbsp Sugar - 3 tbsp Blanched & finely chopped almonds - ¼ cup Cardamom powder - 1 tsp Boil milk, reserving 2 tbsp to mix with rice flour. Add sugar & add the rice flour-milk mixure, stirring simultaneously. Cook till molten ice cream consistency is reached. Add cardamom powder & 2 drops of almond essence (optional). Add chopped almonds & remove. Garnish, chill & serve.
Custard Fruit Kheer - specially for deepavali visitors!! Use fruits of your choice, but add them only after cooling the kheer. Milk - 750 ml Vanilla Custard powder - 2 tbsp Sugar - 1 cup Apple - half of a medium size Banana & orange - 1 Grapes - ½ cup Pears - ½ cup Cashews & raisins - 2 tbsp each Mix custard powder in 1 cup of cold milk & keep ready. Put the rest of the milk to boil & add the custard mixture. Lower the flame & cook, stiring, till thick. Add sugar, remove immediately, mix & cool. Peel & chop all fruits. Add to kheer & chill.
Fig & Cardamom Delight - sumptuous and low in calories Agar agar (china grass) - 5 gms, chopped Low fat milk - 500 ml Skim Milk powder - 3 tsp Sugar - ¼ cup ( can use sugar substitute) Cardamom powder - ½ tsp Dried figs - 8 (soaked in ½ cup water for 2 hrs & pureed) Mix the milk (boiled & cooled) with milk powder & keep aside. Add ½ cup ofwater to agar-agar & simmer over slow flame till it melts. Add milk, mixture, sugar, fig puree, cardamom powder & mix well. Pour into bowls & refrigerate ill it sets. Garnish with saffron.