Category: Desserts

Rice Kheer

Reminiscence of my childhood is all I’ve to say about this dessert. I remember as a child, enjoying this on every Ramzan from my neighborhood. As I’d moved to Chennai, I didn’t get any opportunity to relish this dessert. Eventually, my mom has started making this recipe every time I visit her.

It’s quite similar to the paal payasam that we make in our home, give or take a few ingredients. I have used basmati rice for its aroma, you could also use seeraga samba or any raw rice that you get your hands on.

—Ingredients—

50 grams, basmati rice or raw rice, soaked for 2—3 hours
1/2 liter, water
1/2 liter, whole milk
100 grams, milk khova (sugarless)
100 grams, sugar
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
10 whole almonds or 2 tablespoons of almond flour
2 tablespoon of ghee/clarified butter
A few strands of saffron (optional)
Dry fruits as desired

—Process—

1. In a small bowl, add a glass of warm water and let the almonds soak in it for 5 minutes. Peel off the skin, grind it to a fine paste and keep aside.
2. In another small bowl, add 2 tablespoons of water and saffron strands, keep aside.
2. Heat a pan, add 1/2 liter of water, cardamom powder and let it boil. Crush(break into pieces) the soaked rice with your hands and add it to the boiling water.
3. Cook the rice in a medium flame and keep stirring continuously. Once it is soft and mushy, add the milk and let it boil for 10—12 minutes.
4. Add in the sugar, milk khova and ghee, mix until well combined.
5. Pour in the soaked saffron and the ground almond paste, cook for a couple of minutes and switch off the flame.

Top it off with your desired dried fruits and serve, could be served both warm and chill!
Stays fresh for up to 3 days, if stored in a refrigerator.

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No Bake Chocolate Tart

This 4-ingredients chocolate tart is truly irresistible! A soft crust and a silky filling is nothing but a sheer indulgence, exclusively for a tenderfoot.

I had Oreo in my kitchen and used them, you could use any biscuits/cookies of your preference. Pulse it with a tablespoon of butter and the crust is ready in no time. Likewise, the filling could be a mixture of dark and milk chocolates or just dark or milk chocolate with your favorite fresh fruits, dried fruits or nuts — the options are umpteen.

Dark chocolate and pomegranate are definitely a match made in heaven and I have been loving this duo lately. Give it a try, you will experience the taste like never before.

—Ingredients—

12 Oreo cookies
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

3/4 cup dark chocolate, coarsely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup butter, cut into small pieces

—Process—

Crust
1. Pulse the cookies (with filling) into a fine powder. Add the butter and mix well.
2. Grease the baking/tart pan and press the mixture onto the bottom and sides of the pan. Refrigerate them for 30 minutes or until they become firm.

Filling
1. In a bowl, add in the chopped chocolate and keep aside.
2. In a sauce pan, add the cream and the butter, bring it to boil in a low flame for 4 – 5 minutes. Pour it on top of the chocolate and mix well after a couple of minutes.

Assembling
1. Once the chocolate mixture is cooled completely, pour it over the crust and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
2. Stays well for 3 – 4 days, if covered and refrigerated.

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Brigadeiros/Nutella Fudge Balls

Do you love chocolates? Then this incredibly addicting Brigadeiro recipe is for you. A traditional Brazilian confection with just 3 ingredients under 10 minutes. This is closer to truffles/fudge balls and it is the best fudge you will ever have! A simple and best coconut Brigadeiro from one of the popular restaurants had inspired me to make this at home.

A traditional Brigadeiro is made out of sweet condensed milk, cocoa powder, and butter, coated in chocolate sprinkles. Here, I’ve used nutella instead of cocoa powder and dipped a few in white/dark chocolates, piped the same atop them. There are a lot of options for flavors, sprinkles and topping, so the floor is yours to play around.

–Ingredients–

200 grams condensed milk
3 tablespoons cocoa powder or nutella
1 tablespoon butter
Sprinkles, as needed

–Process–

1. Combine condensed milk, cocoa powder and butter in a saucepan. Place them over a medium flame and keep stirring until it thickens, approximately 10-12 minutes.
2. Transfer it to a greased plate and let it chill for 1 hour.
3. Shape the mixture into balls and roll them on sprinkles.

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Ashoka (Ashoka Halwa)

An exquisite dessert that tingles your taste buds from the lands of Thiruvaiyaru! I’m sure each and every soul in and around Thanjavur would have come across this dessert atleast once in their lifetime.

My mother is from Thanjavur, anyone who is visiting us from there had always brought us this wonderful dessert. I would highly recommend you to visit the shop that serves this dessert for the past 50 years. I’ve tried to bring the nearest version of the original recipe (it’s secret, though), try and let me know your comments.

Ingredients
1/2 cup moong dal (yellow split)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon maida
2-3 tablespoons milk khoya/khova
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
6-7 tablespoons clarified butter/ghee
Nuts and dry fruits as desired
Red food dye (optional)

Preparation
1. Dry roast the moong dal, pressure cook until it becomes mushy and grind it to a fine paste
2. Heat a pan and add a tablespoon of ghee, roast the nuts-dry fruits and remove them from the pan
3. Add another tablespoon of ghee and maida. Cook in a low flame and make sure you don’t burn the maida
4. Pour in 2 more tablespoons of ghee and the ground moong dal paste. Cook in a low flame for a minute or 2, pour in the sugar and keep stirring. If you’re adding a food dye, then add it now by dissolving it in a tablespoon of water
4. Add the khova-cardamom powder and continue stirring
5. Add in the rest of the ghee and keep mixing until it leaves the sides of the pan, approximately 5 minutes
6. Mix the roasted nuts and serve warm.

Tips
Since we have added ghee, it might harden up once it cools down. So, please reheat before serving.

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Carrot Halwa

Carrot halwa is one of the sought-after desserts, almost on all the special occasions. We don’t need any special occasion to eat this dessert and I make it at least twice in a month. With a very few ingredients, it wins the hearts of the people. This was the first dessert I learnt to make on my own in my teenage days, I have fine tuned the recipe over these years and come up with my best version. Each home has it’s own version, a single ingredient can bring a drastic difference in the outcome. My secret ingredient is salt. Yes, you heard me right! Salt enhances the taste of the other ingredients, making the recipe stand out! Without further ado, let’s get into the recipe.

Ingredients
500 grams carrot (peeled and grated)
500 ml whole milk
100 grams sugar
50 grams clarified butter
1/4 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dry fruits and nut, as desired

Preparation
1. Heat 1 tablespoon of clarified butter in a pan and roast the dry fruits and nuts. Remove them from the pan and keep aside.
2. Add another tablespoon of clarified butter and saute the carrots until the raw smell leaves.
3. Pour in the milk, close the lid and let it boil in medium flame for 20 minutes. Keep stirring occasionally, add in the sugar and cook for another 15 minutes with the lid closed.
4. Add cardamom powder, salt and the remaining clarified butter. Keep stirring until it reaches your desired consistency. I cook for 15 more minutes to have a desiccated texture.

Try it out and let me know your comments with a picture! 🙂

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