A heavenly feast

(A pudding of foxnuts prepared with sweetened thickened milk, flavoured with cardamom powder and saffron)

Ingredients

• 1 cup makhane
• 1 litre milk
• 2 ½ tbsp sugar
• ¼ tbsp ghee
• ¼ tsp green cardamom powder
• 10 gm pistachio, blanched and slivered
• 10 gm almonds, blanched and slivered
• for the garnishing
• 5 gm pistachio, blanched and slivered
• 5 gm almonds, blanched and slivered
• 1 gm saffron, broiled
• ½ tbsp edible rose petals, dried

Method

• In a heavy bottomed pan, add ghee. Sauté makhane over low flame to give them a light golden colour. Remove and keep aside. In the same pan, add milk and bring to a boil. When it thickens a little, add the makhane and cook on medium heat. Now, add sugar and cardamom powder, then add the slivered pistachio and almonds. Remove from the flame. Mix well. Serve garnished with slivered nuts, saffron and edible dried rose petals.

Kesari shrikhand

(This delicious Indian dessert is prepared with hung curd, sweetened with sugar, flavoured with saffron and green cardamom powder, and garnished with slivered pistachio, almonds and blanched chironji seeds)

Ingredients

• 2½ cups hung curd
• ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted
• ¼ gm saffron, seeped in ½ tbsp of hot milk
• ½ tsp green cardamom powder
• 4 tsp chironji seeds, blanched
• for the garnishing
• A few strands of saffron broiled or seeped in little milk
• 2 tsp pistachio, slivered
• 2 tsp almonds, slivered
• 2 tsp chironji seeds blanched

Method

• In a bowl, add hung curd, sugar and saffron. Whisk it till smooth.
• Remove in a glass bowl, add blanched chironji seeds and cardamom powder and mix well.
• Transfer into serving bowls and chill in the refrigerator for one and half hours.
• Serve cold, sprinkled with green cardamom powder and saffron garnished with slivered nuts and blanched chironji seeds.

Crunchy murukku

Ingredients

• 250 gm maida
• 50 gm rice flour
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste

Method

• Take little water in a pressure cooker and add maida in a separate vessel. Place a ring in the cooker and place the vessel on top of it. Cover the vessel to avoid any water from entering the flour. Steam until two whistles. Keep the pressure cooker aside, allow it to cool. Take out the steamed maida from the pressure cooker and remove the wet part of the flour.
• Transfer the dry steamed flour in a vessel. Add rice flour, cumin seeds, oil and salt according to taste. Mix all the ingredients and ensure that there are no lumps. Knead to soften the dough by adding sufficient water.
• Take a murukku maker with a disc of your choice too. Grease the murukku maker and place the dough inside it. Take a plastic sheet and grease it. Press the dough through the disc hole on the plastic sheet and make small murukku by moving in circular motion.
• Heat oil in a pan, add the murukku and switch off the gas. Allow it to fry in the hot oil. Once the temperature of the oil comes down to normal, switch on the gas on a low flame and fry the murukku till they are light golden brown.

Paper poha chiwda

Ingredients

• 1 kg rice flakes
• 100 gm peanuts
• 100 gm roasted chana dal
• 100 gm dry coconut, sliced
• 30 to 40 curry leaves
• 1 bunch finely chopped mint leaves
• 1 bunch finely chopped green coriander
• 5 to 8 slit green chillies
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 tsp asafoetida
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp mustard seeds
• 1 tsp citric acid powder
• 1 tbsp sugar
• Oil as per requirement
• Salt to taste

Method

• Dry roast the poha till it turns light golden and keep aside. Heat oil in a pan, and deep fry peanuts, roasted chana dal and finely sliced dry coconut and keep it aside. For the tempering, add cumin, mustard, coriander and sesame seeds, asafoetida, turmeric powder, dry red chillies, slit green chillies; curry, coriander and mint leaves. In a vessel add the roasted ingredients along with the spices and temper everything together. Finally, add citric acid powder, sugar and salt to taste.

Sooji mawa barfi

Ingredients

• 250 gm semolina/sooji
• 250 gm sugar
• 250 gm milk powder 
• 250 gm mawa
• 250 gm ghee
• 250 ml milk
• ½ tsp cardamom powder
• 10 to 15 raisins, almonds and  pistachio
• Few silver sheet and cashews for garnishing

Method

• Heat ghee in a non-stick pan and add semolina. Stir and cook till it becomes light brown.
• Add milk and mix it. Stir and cook till the semolina becomes soft.
• At this stage, add mawa and milk powder and mix them. Cook for five to six minutes till it turns golden brown, stir continuously.
• Add grated almonds, pistachio, raisins and cardamom powder. Mix everything and cook for another two minutes. Finally add sugar and mix it. Cook till the ghee gets separated from the semolina and becomes a lump. Keep it aside to cool. Take a plate and grease it. Spread the lump evenly in the tray. Garnish it with silver coating and dry fruits. Keep it aside.
• Cut it in square or diamond shape and serve it by topping with finely chopped almonds and cashews.

— As told to Namrata Srivastava