Kheer / Indian rice pudding

INGREDIENTS                                           Basmati rice 1/2 cup Almonds 6-8 Pistachios 6-8 Raisins 8-10 Milk 1 litre Sugar 3/4 cup Green cardamom powder   1/4 teaspoon Saffron (kesar) 5-6 Silver warq to garnish

vanilla essence                    1 tablespoon

METHOD Wash and soak the rice in one cup of water for fifteen minutes. Drain, remove on an absorbent paper and pat dry using a muslin cloth. Grind it to a coarse powder. Blanch almonds and pistachios in one cup of hot water for five minutes. Drain, peel and cut them into slivers. Soak raisins in one-fourth cup water for ten to fifteen minutes, drain. Heat the milk in a thick-bottomed pan and bring it to a boil. Add the rice powder and sugar and cook on low heat till the rice is half done. Add the green cardamom powder, saffron, nuts and allow to simmer on low heat till the rice is cooked and the mixture is thick Remove from heat, allow to cool a little, stir in the raisins and transfer into small clay bowls. Garnish with silver varq and serve chilled.  Kheer- sweet dish, made by boiling rice or broken wheat with milk and sugar, and flavored with cardamom, raisins, saffron, pistachios or almonds. It is typically served during a meal or also consumed alone as a stand alone savory. Kheer is made in different ways in different part of India.

Coconut empanadas/ Indian Sweet gujiya/ Gujarati ghughra

This recipe is traditional Gujarati Recipe from Gujarat India.  Traditionally with made from Gram and wheat flour. We grow up eating Ghughra stuffed with coconut and nuts stuffing. Simple easy to make and just right for the sweet tooth buds. I gave the title Empanadas since it looks and made in the same way. This recipe calls for the charoli(Charoli are tiny almond-flavoured dried seeds of a bush called Buchanania lanzan, which is cultivated across India, primarily in the northwest. After the hard shell is cracked, the stubby seed within is as soft as a pine nut.) 

You can find charoli in any Indian grocery store. If can not find it then simply use any nuts, pine nuts can be a good substitute. unsweetened coconut also can be find at indian grocery but if not then just use the sweetened and add 2 tablespoons of powder sugar instead. Lets get started with the recipe. 

Ingredients - 

for stuffing:

2 cups - shredded coconut( unsweetened) 

2 tablespoon  - Golden raisins

2 tablespoon- chopped cashews

1/4 cup-  chopped or sliced almonds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds( khus khus)

1/4 cup powder sugar

1/2 teaspoon- crushed cardamom/ cardamom powder 

1 tablespoon- charoli(optional) either use pinenuts

oil to fry

Mix all the ingredianet in a bowl. It should look like this.

For the dough:

2 cup- flour

1/2 cup- ghee(clarified butter)

water

 Mix the ghee in to the flour and give it a good massage until the flour soaks all the ghee. Add water in small amount, keep adding the water until it forms in the dough. It should look like this. add a little ghee to smooth the dough. 

 Cover the dough with the damped towel for 10 minutes.

Roll dough out on a lightly floured board to circles about 3-4 inches in diameter.

Place a spoonful of filling on one side of the circle. Moisten the edges of the circle with a small amount of water and fold the dough over the filling to make a half circle. Press the edges together to seal. if you can fold the edges to make a little design then go ahead and do it. It's fun!

Make one at a time and put those Ghughra( empanadas) in to the bowl covering damped towel. Damped towel would help pastry from drying. Now heat the oil in the fryer or deep pan. Fry those Ghughra until golden. 

This is the final product. I know i should post few more pictuers of showing how to fold and roll the pastries. I'll do that hopefully soon.Hope you guys enjoy this recipe. This can be really good snacks with the tea or coffee or any hot beverages.

Baking Instructions: Bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes on lightly greased pan.

        

Please comment if you have any questions. Thanks!

Carrot pudding (Gajar Halawa)

Halva refers to many types of dense, sweet confections, served across the Middle East, South Asia, Central Asia, West Asia, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Malta and the Jewish world.

The term halva (Arabic: حلوى‎ halwā), meaning "sweet", is used to describe two types of desserts: 

1. Flour based- This type of halva is slightly gelatinous and made from grain flour, typically semolina. The primary ingredients are oil, flour, and sugar.

2. Nut and butter based- This type of halva is crumbly and usually made from tahini (sesame paste) or other nut butters, such as sunflower seed butter. The primary ingredients are nut butter and sugar.

Halva may also be based on numerous other ingredients, including sunflower seeds, various nuts, beans, lentils, and vegetables such as carrots, pumpkins, yams, and squashes.

                     This is one of my favourite desserts. My would Make it during the special occasion. Carrot pudding is Known as Gajar Halwa in India. Gajar Halwa is one of the most popular traditional Indian desserts. Gajar Halwa is made from fresh carrots and cooked in milk and ghee and garnished with nuts and raisins. This recipe is a healthy version of traditional recipe. I like to use condensed milk sometimes and i would suggest adding half amount of the sugar or less if you are do not want to over power your recipe with sugar. I like to serve this recipe with scoop of vanilla ice cream yuuummmy!

Ingredients:

1 kg Carrots

1 liter Milk (I like to use sweet condensed milk)

1 teaspoon Cardamom seeds

3/4 cup Water

3 tablespoons Ghee

2 tablespoons Raisins

2 tablespoons Almonds

2 tablespoons Pistachios

450 grams Sugar

Method:

Wash and grate the carrots.

Soak the raisins in water for 30 minutes.

Blanch and shred the nuts.
Put the water to boil, when it starts boiling add the grated carrots.

Cook for 5-7 minutes.
Add the milk. Cook on a low flame for 1 hour stirring occasionally.
Add sugar, mix well and cook till the sugar has dissolved and all the milk has been absorbed.
Add ghee and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Add the slightly crushed cardamoms and the raisins.
Mix well. Remove from heat and arrange in a serving dish. Garnish with almonds and pistachios. Serve cold, hot or at room temperature.