Carrot Kheer

Carrot Kheer is a unique sweet dish which my mom used to make. It is made by boiling carrots with milk and sugar; it is flavored with saffron, cashews, pistachios or almonds. Kheer is basically a pudding from the cuisine of the Indian Subcontinent. It is typically served during a meal or as a dessert. It is also known in some regions as payasam, payasa and fereni. This kheer is perfect for parties as you can make it in advance and chill in the refrigerator.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4-5 people

Recipe Courtesy – Smitha Pai (My Mom)

Ingredients Quantity Carrots 2 or 3 Milk 2 cups Sugar ½ cup Saffron (optional) 2 pinches Pistachios (peeled, unsalted) 1 tbsp Almonds 12 whole Cashew nuts 2 tbsps Vanilla Essence 1 tsp

Measurements tip:

The cup that I use here is the standard measuring cup and if you use the same measurements it yields the serving size mentioned. But you can substitute this cup with any cup of your choice where the measure of carrots is 1½ cups, milk 2 cups and sugar ½ of that same cup. The serving size will vary depending on the cup you use.

Method

In a bowl, add all the dry nuts and pour hot water till they are completely submerged in water. Close with a lid and keep for about an hour or two.

Wash the carrots nicely. Make sure there is no soil or grit on the surface. Peel them; chop the tip and the head about half an inch and discard. Dice roughly into 1 inch cubes. Pressure cook with ½ cup of water for one whistle. Cool down completely.

While the carrots are cooling peel the almonds and pistachios. Take out about 1 tbsp. of cashew nuts and 5 almonds. Chop remaining the nuts into small pieces.

In a blender jar add the reserved nuts (almonds and cashew nuts), sugar and grind. Drain the carrots, (reserve the water), add the carrots to the blender and grind to a smooth paste. Transfer the paste to a pan. Add the reserved water to the blender jar and pulse, to wash off the blender, add this water to the carrot paste. Add milk and mix well bring to a boil and turn off heat. Add the chopped nuts, vanilla essence and saffron. Cool down completely. Then chill. Served chilled.

Moong Khichidi (Sweet)

Moong khichidi is mouth-watering sweet dish made by simmering whole green gram in ghee and jaggery flavored with cardamom. It’s a pretty simple dish with few ingredients and quick one to make. This dish is usually made on special occasions like Makara Sankranti or Subramanya Srishti.

Ingredients	Quantity
Whole Green Gram	250 gms
Jaggery (grated)	250 gms
Fresh grated Coconut	½ cup or half of a coconut
Cashew Nuts	2-3 tbsps.
Cardamom	2-3 pods
Ghee	3-4 tbsps.
Water	3-4 cups

Method

Wash and pat dry whole green gram. Heat 1tbsp ghee in pressure cooker; fry the green gram for a minute stirring continuously. Add 2-3 cups of water, close lid and pressure cook on high heat for one whistle and then lower flame and cook for 5-7 minutes more. The green gram should be completely cooked.

Meanwhile peel the cardamom and grind it to a fine powder using a mortar pestel.

Heat 2-3 tbsps ghee in a large pan, fry the cashew nuts till golden brown and keep aside. Add the grated jaggery, let it melt. Then add cooked green gram and cook for 3-4 minutes add ¼ cup water if you feel it’s too dry. Add grated coconut, cashew nuts and cook for 5-7 minutes or until you see the gram has started to melt and all jaggery is melted and mixed well with rest of the ingredients.

Now add cardamom powder and close lid. Let stand for 2 minutes. Serve hot with few drops of ghee on top.

Red Velvet Cake

Red velvet cake is a soft, spongy, melt-in-the mouth dessert. This decadent dessert is light on the palate. It gets flavor from the vanilla and cocoa powder but does not taste like a chocolate cake at all.

Traditionally, red velvet cake is iced with a French-style butter roux icing (also called ermine icing), which is very light and fluffy, but time-consuming to prepare. Cream cheese frosting and buttercream frosting are variations which have increased in popularity. I always use the White Chocolate Mousse to layer and frost my cake.

The main cake ingredients are flour, butter, buttermilk, and sugar. The red color comes from either beets or food coloring. These ingredients combine to create a red velvet cake.

Please don’t get intimidated by the long recipe, the actual cake is very simple but you need to make sure every step is followed in this recipe. Hence, the detailed explanation.

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 30-35 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients	Quantity	Quantity for Eggless
Flour	1 ½ cup	½ cup
Corn starch	1 tbsp	1 tbsp
Butter	115 gms	115 gms
Sugar	1 cup	1 cup
Baking Soda	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Butter milk	½  cup	½ cup
Vinegar	1 tbsp	1 tbsp
Cocoa Powder	1 tbsp	1 tbsp
Egg	1	1 tbsp oil+ 2 tbsp water
Egg replacer powder/Milk powder	-	1 ½ tbsp/1 tbsp
Vanilla extract	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Red food coloring	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Milk (optional)	¼ cup	¼ cup

Method

Sift together flour, corn starch and cocoa powder. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

Mix buttermilk and food color. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

In a large bowl cream* together butter and sugar using a hand blender until sugar is well combined. Add egg and beat at low speed till it is incorporated.

Pre heat the oven/microwave at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Add 1 part of buttermilk and 1 part of sifted flour. Beat using the blender once combined add another part. Blend the ingredients repeating the process. Add milk little at a time at this stage if you feel the batter is too dry.

Mix together vinegar and baking soda, add to the batter, add vanilla extract and combine well. The batter should be the same color throughout and it should not have any streaks.

Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. A few crumbs are okay but it should not have batter on it. If you are checking the internal temperature of the cake it should be between 93°C to 95°C maximum.

Eggless version:

Sift together flour, corn starch and cocoa powder. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

Mix buttermilk and food color. Roughly divide into 3 parts.

In a large bowl cream* together butter and sugar using a hand blender until well combined.

Pre heat the oven/microwave at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Add 1 part of buttermilk and 1 part of sifted flour. Beat using the blender once combined add another part. Blend the ingredients repeating the process. Add egg replacer powder/milk powder and mix well.

In a small bowl beat 1 tbsp oil and 2 tbsp water till frothy and add to the batter. Add milk little at a time at this stage if you feel the batter is too dry.

Mix together vinegar and baking soda, add to the batter, add vanilla extract and combine well. The batter should be the same color throughout and it should not have any streaks.

Bake at 180°C for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. A few crumbs are okay but it should not have batter on it. If you are checking the internal temperature of the cake it should be between 93°C to 95°C maximum.

Points to remember:

• For the cake shown above I have used White Chocolate Mousse as in between the layers. I have used the same mousse for frosting and then sprinkled the crumbs of the cake on top to make it look like a pillow.
• It is very important to use an apron while baking this cake as the food color might stain your clothes. Once you add food color to buttermilk mix very carefully. You could use a pair of disposable glove if you don’t like the color on your hands.
• Once you add the vinegar and baking soda to your cake the batter looks like its curdling, but you need not worry the reaction of these two ingredients result in a very spongy cake.
• Whenever you make a cake batter which requires you to use a hand blender use a large deep bowl to avoid splatter.
• If using the White Chocolate Mousse for frosting the cake as shown in the picture below you have to refrigerate the mousse before piping it. Transfer the mousse into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle of your choice and refrigerate for 15 20 minutes or until the mousse is firm to pipe. 

Another way of decorating the cake

Modak (Fried)

                             

Modaks have a special importance in the worship of the Hindu god Ganesh; modak is believed to be his favorite food, which begets him the moniker modakapriya (the one who likes modak) in Sanskrit.

A modak is a sweet dumpling popular in western, eastern and Southern India. It is called modak in Marathi, Oriya and Konkani as well as Gujarati language, Sughiyan in Malayalam, modhaka or kadubu in Kannada, modhaka or kozhakkattai in Tamil, and kudumu in Telugu.

The sweet filling inside a modak is made up of fresh grated coconut and jaggery/sugar, while the soft shell is made from rice flour, or wheat flour mixed with khava or maida flour. The dumpling can be fried or steamed.

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

Makes: 12

Recipe Courtesy- Ruchkar Mejwani

Ingredients	Quantity
Grated Coconut	1 cup
Sugar	½ cup
Cream	2 tbsp
Chopped Dry fruits	2 tbsp (optional)
Cardamom powder	1 pinch
Maida/All-purpose flour	1 cup
Wheat flour	¾ cup
Ghee	2 tbsp
Salt	to taste
Water	to mix the dough
Oil	to fry modak

Method

For Filling

Take a pan, add the grated coconut, sugar & cream. Mix well and let the cream melt.

Add dry fruits, cardamom powder and again mix well. Keep cooking till the mixture becomes slightly dry and most of the water from cream has evaporated.

In the meanwhile, take a small pan, add ghee and let it come to a boil.

For Covering

In a bowl, add wheat flour, maida & salt. Add the hot ghee to the mixture and stir with a spoon.

Add water to the flour mixture & make a soft dough.

Meanwhile, take a frying pan and add oil for heating.

Take small portions of the dough and start rolling into soft small rotis. Fill each roti with the coconut mixture. Pinch the edges of the roti, bring it together & seal properly so that no oil goes in while frying. Similarly make all the modaks.

Fry the modaks till golden brown.

Points to remember:

·        You can make the filling in advance if you like and store in the fridge. But bring to room temperature before you make modak.

·        Fry the modak in a medium low flame.

Kalakand

Kalakand is a popular Indian sweet made out of solidified, sweetened milk and cottage cheese. This is a moderately sweet dessert and you can't stop at just one piece.

The dish originated in Alwar, Rajasthan, India. Kalakand is made in Indian during different festivals and celebrations such as Holi, Diwali, Navratri and Eid.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Serves: 4-5 people

Recipe Courtesy: Smt Somayajula Gayatri Devi Sharma

Ingredients	Quantity
Sweetened Condensed Milk	200gms
Paneer	250gms
Milk Powder	10gms (1 heaped tbsp)
Cardamom Powder	1 tsp(optional)
Pistachios/ Cashewnuts	for garnish
Ghee	1 tbsp

Method

Take a square cake tin and brush all the sides and bottom with ghee. Line with butter paper and brush ghee on it.

Crumble paneer or grate. Take care to retain the grainy texture of the paneer.

Add hot water to pistachios/cashewnuts and soak them for few minutes. Peel the pistachios/cashewnuts and chop them to small pieces.

Take a thick bottomed pan and heat it. Add grated paneer, milk powder and sweetened condensed milk. Mix well and lower the heat to low flame. Keep stirring otherwise the mixture will burn. After few minutes the mixture starts thickening. Cook for few minutes and then add the cardamom powder and mix well. Don’t let the mixture dry completely.

Once the condensed milk is almost dry transfer the mixture to the prepared cake tin and spread evenly with a flat spoon. Dip a spoon in water and use the back of the spoon to smoothen the surface.

Cool the kalakand for a while and cut into desired shapes. Then separate the pieces and arrange them in a plate. Garnish the kalakand pieces with chopped pistachios/cashewnuts and serve.

To make kalakand in different shapes use cookie cutters. Make a ball of kalakand and flatten it on a plate. Then press the cookie cutter and remove the excess portions and lift the cookie cutter gently.

Points to remember

• Using sweetened condensed milk making this dish very easy. If we have to make it traditionally, milk has to be boiled and then reduced. Sweetened condensed milk is a better option to save time.
• Remember to retain the grainy texture of paneer.
• Use a thick bottomed pan so that the condensed milk does not burn. And also keep stirring the mixture while cooking so that the mixture does not burn. As there is very little moisture in condensed milk and paneer the mixture needs attention while cooking.
•  Cut and decorate as per your choice.

Carrot Cake

A very moist, healthy, cake made from grated carrots and whole wheat flour. The best part is, it can be made eggless or with eggs. This cake can be served with a sweet, yet light carrot glaze.

Carrot is a cool season crop and when grown at 15°C to 20°C will develop a good color. Therefore it is more grown in hilly areas and areas where the temperature goes down below 20°C in winters. 

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cooking time: 60 minutes

Serves: 6-8 people

Ingredients	Quantity	Quantity for Eggless
Carrots grated	2 cups	2 cups
Eggs	3	-
Sugar	½ cup+2 tbsp	½ cup+2 tbsp
Whole Wheat flour	¾   cup	¾   cup
Cinnamon Powder	½  tsp	½  tsp
Salt	a pinch	a pinch
Baking Soda	½  tsp	½  tsp
Baking Powder	¼ tsp	¼ tsp
Oil	2 tbsp	5 tbsp
Curds	-	3 tbsp
Vanilla essence(optional)	few drops	few drops

Method

Sift together all dry ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder 3 times.

Grease 8 inch cake tin using oil and line the base with parchment paper.

Pre heat oven at 180°C for 10 minutes.

Beat together eggs and sugar using a hand blender till sugar dissolves.

Add carrots to the bowl and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and mix using a spatula. 

Add oil and vanilla essence. Mix together. The cake should be at pouring consistency.

Pour the batter in the cake tin and place the cake on the middle rack. Bake at 180°C for 30-40 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Eggless version:

Sift together all dry ingredients like flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon powder 3 times.

Grease 8 inch cake tin using oil and line the base with parchment paper.

Pre heat oven at 170°C for 10 minutes.

Coarsely powder sugar in a blender. Whisk together oil and curds. Add sugar, whisk till sugar is completely dissolved.

Add carrots to the bowl and mix well. Add all dry ingredients and vanilla essence, mix using a spatula. Add few teaspoons of milk if you feel the cake batter is too dry. The cake should be at pouring consistency.

Pour the batter in the cake tin and place the cake on the middle rack. Bake at 170°C for 40-50 minutes or till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool the cake in the tin for 30 minutes. Run a knife around the cake to separate any sticking on the edges. To demold the cake, it with cake board or a plate and flip the cake on it. Cake cooling rack works best.

For Glaze:

Ingredients	Quantity
Carrot juice	5 tbsp
Icing sugar	4 tbsp
Orange Juice (optional)	2 tbsp
Gelatin  (optional)	½  tsp

Method

Soak gelatin in 2 tbsp of water. Mix together carrot juice, orange juice and icing sugar in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil on high heat and then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the gelatin mixture, mix well and boil for 2-3 minutes. You can strain the mixture if you feel the glaze is lumpy.

Cool down to room temperature and then pour over the cake. Keep the cake in the fridge for 20 minutes for the glaze to set.

You can serve this with vanilla ice-cream.

Points to remember:

·        Let the cake cool down completely before adding any icing or glaze.

·        The thickness of the glaze really depends on your liking. If you like a thicker glaze you can reduce on the flame.