Recipe: Thandai Baked Yogurt Thandai Baked Yogurt is an Indian dessert that is easy to make, creamy and a flavourful indulgence. You require 2 main ingredients – plain thick yogurt and sweetened condensed milk. Different spices or flavours are used to make this basic baked yogurt different every time. Also known as Bhapa Doi, it is a popular dessert in West Bengal. Bhapa Doi can be steamed or baked. I have chosen to bake it. I sometimes serve it with fruit sauce, fresh fruit or nuts on top. What Is Thandai? Actually thandai is a popular cooling milk based drink that is generally prepared during the Holi Festival. Thandai is a mixture of spices, nut, seeds that makes the drink unique. Some make a…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Easy Kalakand Recipe Easy Kalakand Recipe requires only three basic ingredients, milk, paneer and cardamom powder. Kalakand is a fudge like Indian sweet and is commonly made during festivals like Diwali, Raksha Bandhan, Ram Navmi, Janmashtami, etc. Traditional Method Of Making Kalakand The traditional method takes a long time to prepare kalakand. Full fat milk is cooked till it reduces to almost half the quantity. Then the strained chenna or paneer is added. This is further cooked till the mixture becomes like a paste. All this process requires constant stirring so that the kalakand does not stick and burn at the bottom of the pan. It should be almost ivory white in colour. Sugar is added and the mixture is continuously stirred till again…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Gujarati Thali & Panakam Gujarati Thali & Panakam is what I make to celebrate the festival of Ram Navmi. Thali is a platter of food. Panakam is a jaggery lemon drink. What Is A Gujarati Thali? As a matter of fact, different states of India have their own style of cuisine. Some dishes may overlap due to proximity to each other or due to kingdom or region it belonged to before Independence. Firstly, what is a thali? Thali is the hindi word for a platter. A thali can consist or anywhere between 5 to 5+ food items all served at one go. Gujarati denotes that the thali or platter has food specifically from the Gujarati Cuisine. A typical Indian meal is served all at…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Oats Sesame Ladoos Oats Sesame Ladoos are full of healthy nuts, seeds and dates. These ladoos are easy to make, delicious, gluten free, provides energy and come together within 20 minutes. Without any refines sugar, I have added jaggery powder for some earthy flavour and as I make them for Makar Sankranti. Skip jaggery if you want to. I like to prepare these ladoos for Makar Sankranti for those who don’t want to have sweets loaded with sugar or jaggery. The recipe takes care of the traditional requirement of enjoying til and gud. I add little gud for that reason. However, you can omit it altogether. If you don’t want to add ghee, add extra dates as they will add as the binder. …
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Poha Phirni Poha Phirni is a gluten free rich creamy pudding made by using rice flakes and full fat milk. To make it more healthy and filling I love to add mixed fresh fruits and nuts to it. This recipe as such is not a traditional Indian dessert or mithai as generally poha is used for savoury dishes like Vegetable Poha. So how did I think of using rice flakes or poha for a milk pudding? Well, I had come across this recipe on the Tarla Dalal website. I first tried out the recipe as per the recipe for Sharad Poornima. Usually Gujaratis prepare Doodh Poha on this auspicious day. I wanted to make something different. Over time I did away with the cornflour…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Sooji Phirni | Kashmiri Suji Phirni | Kong Phirin Sooji Phirni is a traditional Kashmiri dessert made using semolina instead of rice. It turns our so aromatic and flavourful because of saffron. Full fat milk lands to the creamy texture of this sweet dish. And the best part is that it is easy to make. Additional advantage is that it can be made a day ahead if you’re going to serve for any festival. Memories: In fact, I had first made sooji phirni to celebrate Vasant Panchami and posted it on 30/01/2017. Back then the photos I had taken were not too good. With the upcoming festive season, I decided to redo the post with better photos, an addition of a video and also…
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Continue ReadingRecipe: Coconut Rice Kheer Coconut Rice Kheer is a creamy, tasty vegan kheer or rice pudding that is made with fresh coconut, rice and coconut milk. Add a bit of cardamom or cinnamon powder for that spice flavour and some chopped nuts for a bit of crunch. Actually, this gluten free kheer is so easy to make and perfect for those who follow a vegan diet. However, it is a delicious alternate for those who don’t follow a vegan diet. What Is Kheer? Kheer is the Indian way of preparing a rice pudding. Basmati rice or short grain rice is allowed to cook in milk till it is done and appears thick and creamy. Spices, nuts and dried fruits are added and served hot or…
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Continue ReadingRECIPE: THANDAI RAVA CAKE Thandai Rava Cake is so soft, egg free and with amazing flavours of thandai spices,rose and saffron. A perfect bake for the Holi Festival. Who doesn’t love cakes, whatever the festival maybe. What Is Thandai Rava Cake? Thandai is a spice mixture that is quite popular during the Holi festival. Besides making thandai drink, it can be used for several other festive dishes like kulfi, mousse, cookies, muffins, chia pudding, malpua, etc. Rava is the hindi word for semolina. Semolina cakes turn out so soft and are easily to bake. Add a sugar syrup on top to keep it moist or don’t. The choice is yours. A Bit About The Group Shhh Cooking Secretly This group brings like minded food bloggers…
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Continue ReadingEvent: Sunday Funday Theme: Diwali Party On 23rd Oct Recipe: Chocolate Kalakand Chocolate Kalakand takes the ordinary traditional kalakand to a new level. With the addition of grated chocolate and unsweetened cocoa powder, this kalakand is much loved by kids and chocolate lovers. To hasten the process of making this time consuming sweet dish or Indian mithai, I have used ready made paneer, milk powder and sweetened condensed milk. Is Kalakand Same As Barfi? No it not. While barfi or burfi sets well on cooling, kalakand as such does not set well. It remains soft. Also one cannot store kalakand at room temperature for days as it contains fresh paneer. It must be stored in the fridge in a container. Chilled kalakand tastes delicious. It…
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Continue ReadingEVENT: SHHH COOKING SECRETLY THEME: DIWALI DHAMAKA RECIPE: KALAKAND, WITH COTTAGE CHEESE Kalakand, with cottage cheese turns out as good as the one with paneer. Moist, soft, delectable barfi, perfect for Diwali. And the sweet treat comes together within 20-25 minutes. It is allowed to set for 2-3 hours and it is ready to be enjoyed with friends and family. CAN I MAKE IT AHEAD? Yes you can. Make sure you store it in an airtight container and leave it in the fridge. I promise you it stays moist for over a week. WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN COTTAGE CHEESE AND PANEER? While in India we often call paneer as cottage cheese in English, it is not nearly the same. While paneer consistency can depend…
