SWEET DISHES

Ingredients:250g rice 100g green gram 5g cardamoms, powdered 300g sugar 25g cashew nuts 25g kiss miss (raisins) 60g ghee or butter 50g dry coconut, cut into small pieces 1 litre milk A pinch of camphor

Chekkara Pongali

Method: Mix rice and green gram together. Wash well and drain all the water. Keep aside. Heat ghee in a pan and fry the rice and green gram for 5-6 minutes. When the rice gets spluttered, add milk and bring to a boil. When rice gets tender, remove from heat and add sugar. Heat ghee in another pan, fry the cashew nuts, kiss miss and dry coconut pieces until golden in color. Add these to the rice mixture along with camphor and cardamom powder. Mix well and serve hot. Ingredients:500gms wheat flour 200gms ghee or butter 25gms jaggery Little cardamom powder and jaofal 1 cup ghee Poppy seeds, almonds and pistachios for garnishing Churma Laddoo Method: Take coarse wheat flour in a tray. Add ghee, hot water and knead into stiff dough. Make palm-shaped balls of this dough and fry in ghee on a medium flame, until light brown in color. Cool them and grind coasely. Sieve this mixture through a rice sieve. Melt jaggery with ghee and add it to the churma mixture. Mix well, add powdered cardamom, jaofal and make laddoos. Decorate with poppy seeds or a mixture of finely chopped almonds and pistachios. Preparation time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:500g fresh cottage cheese 200g powdered sugar 1 tsp refined flour 1/2 tsp cardamom powder 1/4 tsp rose essence 125g desiccated coconut

Paneer Ke Laddoo

Method: Mash or grind the cottage cheese to a fine paste. Mix it together with the sugar and flour. Cook in a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame stirring continuously. Cook for 8-12 minutes. When the mixture becomes thick and dries up, remove it from fire Add the cardamom and essence. Shape them into laddoos. Spread the desiccated coconut on a plate and roll the laddoo on it. Ingredients:For the filling:1 kg Bengal gram dahl 1 kg jaggery or sugar Nutmeg powder & cardamom powder to taste A few strands of saffron For the covering:400 gms all-purpose flour Ghee (butter) for frying A pinch of salt Puran Poli Method:To prepare the filling: Wash the Bengal gram dahl and pressure cook until soft. Mash the dahl with the bottom of a spoon or spatula. Add jaggery or sugar to the dahl and cook the mixture on low heat stirring constantly till almost dry. Add cardamom powder, stir well and make small balls from the dahl mixture. For the covering: Mix the ingredients for the covering with enough water to form a stiff dough. Cover and set aside for one hour. Divide the dough into small even sized balls. Shape the dough ball in the palm of your hand into a cup shape. Place the filling in it, gather the edges of the dough and seal firmly. Lightly roll the ball, using a little dry flour, into a chapati. Bake on a tava or non-stick pan till evenly done with ghee on both sides. Ingredients:1 cup grated khoya (mava) 1/4 cup powdered sugar 1 tsp. cocoa powder 2 tbsps chopped pistachios 2 drops rose essence Pista Choco Rolls Method: Combine the khoya and powdered sugar in a heavy bottomed pan and cook on a slow flame, while stirring continuously till the sugar has dissolved and the moisture has evaporated, approximately for 5 to 10 minutes. Cool completely, add the rose essence and mix well. Divide into 2 equal portions. In one portion, add the cocoa powder and mix well. Roll into a 200 mm. x 75 mm. (6" x 3") rectangle. Keep aside. In the other portion, add the chopped pistachios and mix well. Make a roll of 25 mm. (1") diameter and 200 mm, (8") length. Place the pistachio roll on the chocolate rectangle and roll it in such a way that the chocolate rectangle covers the pistachio roll evenly from all sides and there are no cracks on the surface. Wrap the roll in a plastic sheet or grease-proof paper and refrigerate till firm, for about 10 minutes. Remove the plastic sheet and cut into 12 mm. (1/2") slices. Makes 15 slices Preparation time: 20 minutes Ingredients:250 gms besan (gram flour) 350 gms jaggery 1/2 tsp cardamom (elaichi) powder Oil for frying Karakajjam Method: Add 1 cup of water in the gram flour and make a fine dough. Place the dough in the sev maker and press into the hot oil. Fry until golden yellow and drain on the paper napkin. Add jaggery, 1/2 cup of water in a bowl and boil until a thick syrup is formed. Also add cardamom powder and stir well. Crush the sev a little bit and pour into the jaggery mix. Keep aside for 15 minutes. Make balls from the mixture and serve. Preparation time: 45-50 minutes