SHAHI TUKDA

INGREDIENTS:

Bread -1 packet
Milk - 1.5 liters
Sugar - 1cup + 6 tbsp
Oil - for deep frying
Ghee - 2 tbsp
Chopped Almonds(blanched and deskinned) and Cashews - For garnishing
Cardamom Powder
Saffron - a pinch
Water - 1 cup

PREPARATION:

1.Preparing the Bread:

             Take the bread pieces out of the packet and air dry it at least for a day. If there is moisture in the bread  it will absorb lots of oil while frying. So its better if the bread is dry.

            Cut the corners of the bread and cut it into squares.

            Take Oil in a pan for deep frying the bread. Add two tbsp of ghee in the oil. Deep fry the bread pieces until golden brown and keep it aside and allow the oil to drain properly. After frying all the bread pieces fry the almonds and cashews in the same oil. 

2. Preparing the Rabdi:

        Take the milk in a sauce pan and boil it mixing in between until the milk reduces to one third of its volume. Soak the saffron in a tbsp of hot milk. Add the saffron milk, cardamom powder and 6 tbsp of sugar in the reduced milk and boil until the sugar melts. Switch off the flame and allow the milk to cool. 

3. Preparing the Sugar Syrup:

      Take a cup of sugar and a cup of water in a pan and boil it until the sugar melts properly and comes to a rolling boil. There is no need to cook for long to any syrup consistency. Switch off the flame. Start assembling while the sugar syrup is hot so that the bread will absorb the syrup properly.

4. Assembling :

   Take a deep rectangular pan. Take a slice of fried bread and dip it in the sugar syrup and arrange it in the pan. After making a layer of bread pour the rabdi on top it with a spoon. Make another layer of bread and then rabdi. Finish it off by garnishing with fried almonds and cashews. 

    Chill overnight and serve. 

TIPS:

• Drying the bread is very important. Otherwise the bread will become oily.
• The bread can be fried in ghee but it will make the dish very heavy.
• The rabdi should be sweetened mildly as we are soaking the bread pieces in sugar syrup also. 
• The sugar syrup should be hot while assembling and the rabdi should be warm. So that the bread will soak all the milk. 

RAVA LADOO

This recipe I learned from my mom. Usually Rava Ladoo is made with milk. But my mom’s recipe uses only ghee for binding. So the ladoo will not get spoiled easily. 

Ingredients:

White Rava (sooji) - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup or as needed
Ghee - 1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder - 2tsp
Cashew Nut - 1/4 cup (broken into pieces)
Whole Cashews - for garnishing

Preparation:

• Take a tsp of ghee from the given measurement and roast the rava in medium flame until it becomes aromatic and light golden in color . 
• Cool down the rava and grind it into a fine powder and keep it aside . 
• Grind the sugar also to a fine powder . 
• Pour the ghee in a pan and add the cashews given for garnish and roast it until golden brown . Take the cashews out and keep it aside . 
• Add the broken cashews in the ghee and roast until golden brown. 
• keep the flame in low and add the rava powder, sugar and cardamom powder . Switch off the flame and mix well.
• At this point taste to see if the sugar is enough and add accordingly.
• Make the ladoos as soon as possible while the mixture is still hot. Garnish with halved cashews.

Tips and Tricks:

1. Roasting the rava until golden in medium flame is really important else the rava will remain raw.
2. Garnishing with cashews is not really necessary as we are adding lots of cashews already in the ladoo. Feel free to skip that step
3. The ladoo should be made quickly while it is hot. Otherwise the ghee and sugar will harden and the ladoo will not hold its shape. So the trick is to keep the rava mixture on the stove itself and make the ladoos to retain the heat as much as possible. If it becomes cold at the end then switch on the flame again for sixty seconds. The mixture will melt a little and it will become easy to make the ladoos
4. For two cups of rava one cup of sugar is enough for us. But the amount of sugar can be increased for more sweetness.

COCONUT BUN (For Baking Partners)

This is my first challenge for Baking Partners and it was quite interesting.
I chose the Tangzhong method and the end result was really delicious

Ingredients for Tangzhong:

• Flour - 1/3 cup
• Water - 1 cup

Ingredients for bread:

• Bread flour - 2 1/2 cups
• Caster sugar - 3tbsp+2tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Egg - 1 large
• Milk Powder - 1 tsp (optional)
• Milk - 1/2 cup
• Tangzhong ( half of the tangzhong made from the above recipe)
• Instant yeast - 2 tsp
• Butter (cut into small pieces, softened at room temperature) - 3 tbsp

Fillings:

• 1 1/2  Cup freshly grated coconut
• ½ cup crushed cashew nut
• ¼ cup sugar ( increase sugar if you want more)
• Red color
• Butter
• 1 egg white

Tangzhong Preparation:

1. Mix flour in water well without any lumps. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring consistently with a wooden spoon to prevent burning and sticking.
2. Switch off the flame once the mixture becomes thicker
3. Transfer into a clean bowl. 
4. Cover with a plastic wrap to prevent drying up. Let it cool. Use the tangzhong straight away once it cools down to room temperature.

Bread Preparation:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients: flour, salt, sugar and instant yeast in a bowl.
2. Whisk and combine the wet ingredients: milk, egg and tangzhong, add it to the dry ingredients.
3. Knead until the dough has developed gluten and then knead in the butter.
4. Knead the dough into a ball shape. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a wet towel . Let the dough double in size for about 40 minutes
5. Transfer to a clean floured surface.
6. Divide the dough in two halves one slightly bigger than the other.
7. Use the bigger portion for the base. Roll it out to the required size and spread it in the pan.
8. Spread the filling evenly and then roll the another half of the dough and cover the filling gently.
9. Leave it to rest for atleasst 40 mins
10. Brush the egg white on the surface. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 F for 35 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and tin. Transfer onto a wire rack and let cool completely.

ANOTHER BLACK FOREST CAKE

BLACK FOREST CAKE

I wanted to make black forest cake for a while. I tried it atlast. It came out wonderful. But the decoration is not my thing. I just tried to make it look nice

BIRTHDAY CAKE

This was the cake made by my friend Agnes for my birthday

UMM-E-ALI

Its an egyptian dessert that contains phyllo dough or puff pastry, milk and nuts. Any type of nuts can be used. Even croissants can be used instead of puff pastry.

UMM-E-ALI is an arabic word which means Ali's mother. There are many stories behind this recipe. But who needs the story as far as the recipe is delicious and comforting

Ingredients:

Puff pastry

Milk(evaporated)

Pistachios

Almonds

Elaichi powder

sugar

Butter

Preparation:

1. preheat the oven to 400 degrees farenheit and place the puff pastry in a buttered baking sheet and bake it until it becomes golden brown on top

2. Remove the baked puff pastry and let it cool

3. Pour the evaporated milk in a container and add sugar and elaichi powder and bring it to a boil

4. Cut the puff pastries into small squares and arrange in a oven safe bowl which is buttered

5. Sprinkle the chopped nuts on top (Raisins are also used. But i dont like it)

6. Pour the milk on top and leave it until the milk is absorbed by the puff pastry. If it became too dry pour some more milk and let it absorb

7. Sprinkle the remaining nuts on top and bake it in the oven at 350 degree farenheit for 30-35 min or until the top becomes golden brown

8. Keep the remaining milk for pouring on top while serving

I made this recipe for the first time so i didnt give any measurements. I just made this with what i had. It came out delicious

I sending this recipe for the joy from fasting to feasting event hosted by kitchenflavours.blogspot.com

http://kitchenflavours.blogspot.com/2009/08/joy-from-fasting-to-feasting-season-ii.html

BEETROOT HALWA

Ingredients:

Beetroot - 3(medium size)

Coconut - 1 cup(grated)

Sugar - according to ur taste

Cardamom - 10 pods

Cashew nut - 1/2 cup

Salt - a pinch

Ghee - 3/4 cup

Method:

1. Cut the beetroot into small piece and chop it in the blender until its finely chopped. It should not be a paste

2. Grind the coconut to the same consistency of beetroot along with the cardamom and mix it with the beetroor

3. Heat ghee in a bottom heavy pan and add the cashew nuts and saute it until it becomes golden brown

4. Add the beetroot and coconut mixture and mix well and add a splash of water and cover the pan tightlyand keep the stove in a simmer. Stir it occasionaly and make sure that its not sticking in the bottom

5. Cook the beetroot well until it becomes very soft

6. Add the sugar according to ur taste and a pinch of salt and keep the flame on high and cook it until all the moisture dries

Keep it in an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator and it will be fresh for many days

WHOLE WHEAT BISCOTTI

Ingredients:

Maida - 3/4 cup

wheat flour - 1/2 cup

sugar - 1/3 cup

baking powder - 1 tsp

Almonds - 1/2 cup (chopped)

Salt - 1/4 tsp

Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp

Egg - 2

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 deg and spray some oil in the baking tray and keep aside

2. In a bowl mix all the dry ingredients and keep aside

3. Beat the eggs and add the cardamom powder and pour it in the dry ingredients

4. Mix it well until it holds up like a dough. Dont overmix it

5. Spread the dough using hands into a long pile

6. Keep it in the baking tray and bake it for 20-25 min

7. Take the biscotti outside and allow it to cool. After it cools cut it into small lengthy pieces and keep it in the baking tray and bake it again in 300 deg for another 20-25 min until it becomes golden brown.

Allow it to cool completely and keep it in a airtight container

I followed the recipe from a tv show but changed some ingredients