Karah Prashad

I had Karah Prashad for the first time at Gurudwara Nanak Jhira Saheb Bidar. It was so yummy that I had tried it at home and preparing it at home is also very simple. Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

Wheat flour: 1 cup

Ghee: 1 cup

Sugar: 1 cup

Water: 3 cups

Karah Prashad

Method
Heat ghee in a thick bottomed vessel and add wheat flour to it. Roast it till golden brown. In another vessel, add sugar to water and bring it to boil. Add sugar water slowly to the roasted flour and keep stirring continuously to avoid any lumps. Once the mixture starts leaving the vessel, transfer to a serving bowl.

Note: You can add cardamom powder at the end. But Prashad given at gurdwaras will normally  have only four ingredients: wheat flour, ghee, sugar and water.

Milk Peda

Ingredients

Paneer: 2 cups

Milk powder: ¼ cup

Milk: ¼ cup

Sugar: ½ cup

Butter: 2-3 tsp

Cardamom powder: ¼ tsp

Saffron: 2-3 strands

Sliced pistachios or almonds: 2-3 tsp

Milk peda

Khoya

Sugar and cardamom to be mixed with khoya

Peda garnished with sliced almonds

Method:

Prepare paneer from milk. Heat a thick-bottomed pan and melt butter. Add milk, milk powder, saffron and paneer and mix well. Keep stirring continuously till the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan and becomes like dough. This dough is called Khoya. Transfer khoya to a bowl and allow it to cool. Add sugar and cardamom powder and knead the khoya for 2-3 minutes so that everything is blended well. Divide the dough into 12 equal parts and roll them into small balls. Lightly press them and garnish each peda with sliced pistachios or almonds. 

Note: If you add sugar when the khoya is hot, it becomes too soft and will be difficult to make balls.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients
Maida: 2 ½ cups
Sugar: 2 cups
Unsweetened cocoa powder: ½ cup
Baking soda: 2 tsp
Salt: 1 tsp
Warm water: 2 cups
Vanilla extract: 2 tsp
Oil: ½ cup
Apple cider vinegar: 2 tsp

For Chocolate Glaze
Sugar: 1 cup
Butter: 8 tsp
Milk: 4 tsp
Unsweetened cocoa powder: 4 tsp
Vanilla extract: 2-3 tsp

Method
In a baking dish, mix together flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt.  Make sure all the ingredients have blended together properly. Add water, vanilla, oil and vinegar and mix all the ingredients properly. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and bake the mixture for about 30 minutes. Later allow the cake to completely cool.

Take a pan and boil sugar, butter, milk and cocoa powder. Stir frequently and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from the flame and stir for another 2-3 minutes. Add vanilla, stir and pour onto the cake. Allow the cake to cool completely before cutting.

Note: The glaze dries very quickly, so you have to spread it immediately and add any sprinkles.

Appam

Being a Mallu, quite often my hubby becomes nostalgic about Kerala home-made food and sometimes I have to bow down to his pressure and cook his favourites. And today, it was the turn of Appam to become a victim at my hands and the ready help came from Vij to help me out to prepare it. Though I was bit worried about the taste, it came well and my hubby was very happy to eat it with brinjal curry.

Here’s the recipe of Appam…



Ingredients:
Raw rice — 1/2 kg
Coconut  — 1 (grated)
Yeast  — 1/2 tsp
Salt  — to taste
Sugar –3 tsp
Cooked rice  –1/2 cup



Method
1. Soak rice for 4 hours and drain it.
2. Grind rice with grated coconut and cooked rice to the consistency of dosa batter.
3. Put yeast, salt, sugar in boiled water and keep it for 30 minutes.
4.  Then add this to the grinded mixture.
5. Keep the mixture for 8 hours for fermentation.
6. When it is ready to use, spread the mixture in a non-sticky pan .
7. The mixture should be spread so that the edge of the appam is lace structured.
8. Close the pan with the lid and heat it for 2 minutes.
9. Cook only one side.
10. Serve hot with potato curry

Sago Payasam

Ingredients
Sago: 1 cup
Sugar: 1 ½ cups
Milk: 4 cups
Cardamom powder: A pinch
Ghee: 2-3 tsp
Cashew nut, raisins and coconut pieces: ¼ cup



Method
Soak sago for 3-4 hours. Boil milk and add the soaked sago. Cook till the sago is transparent and soft. Add sugar and stir well. Fry cashew nuts, raisins and coconut pieces in ghee and add to the payasam. Add cardamom powder and remove from the flame. Serve hot or cold.

Note: Can add jaggery instead of sugar

Flaked Rice Payasm

Ingredients
Flaked rice: 1 cup
Sugar: ½ cup
Milk: 2 cups
Cardamom powder: A pinch
Cashew nut and raisins: 2-3 tsp
Ghee: 2-3 tsp



Method
Heat ghee in a pan and fry cashew and raisins till golden brown. Remove from the fire and set aside. With the remaining ghee, fry the flaked rice till golden brown. Boil milk in a pot and add the fried flaked rice to it. Cook in medium flame till the flaked rice is done. Add sugar, cardamom and stir well. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with cashew nuts and raisins.

Note: Can add jaggery instead of sugar.

Basbousa with Almonds

During Ramadan I tried some Middle East recipes. Here’s a dessert which is very simple to prepare but yet, very yummy. Basbousa with Almonds is a traditional Middle East dessert and is perfect with coffee or tea.

Ingredients
Water: 2 ¼ cup
Sugar: 1 ½ cup
Almonds: ¾ cup
Butter: ½ cup
Semolina: ¾ cup
Lemon juice: 1 tsp

Method
Bring water, sugar and lemon juice to boil in a pan. Simmer the syrup for 5-10 minutes. Cut the almonds into small pieces and fry in butter with semolina until golden brown. Add the syrup slowly to the semolina mixture stirring constantly over a low heat. See to it that no lumps are formed and the mixture becomes thick. Remove from heat and cover the lid of the pan and allow it to cool for a while. Later, pour the mixture into greased moulds and flatten the tops and garnish with almond pieces before serving warm.

The same can be done in a different manner, but in the oven and we can call it as Semolina Cake. Here’s the recipe for that.




Ingredients
Butter: 1 cup
Condensed milk: 1 tin
Baking powder: 1 tsp
Semolina: 2 cup
Almond pieces: 1 cup
Water: 1 cup
For the syrup
Sugar: 2 cup
Water: 1 ½ cup
Lemon juice: 1 tsp
Rosewater: 1 tsp
Almond pieces: 2 tsp

Method
Prepare the syrup first. Dissolve sugar in water in a saucepan. Add lemon juice and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes on a low flame and keep it aside.

In a bowl, combine butter, condensed milk and baking powder and mix well, before adding semolina, almond pieces and water and stir well. Preheat oven to 190 degrees and lightly grease a baking dish. Pour the mixture into the baking dish and flatten it with a spoon. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Remove the cake from oven and pour the cooled syrup all over. Allow the syrup to be absorbed and place in fridge to cool completely. Cut into diamond shapes, garnish with almond pieces and serve. It can also be served warm without keeping in fridge.

Moong Dal Payasam

Ingredients
Moong dal: 1 cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Milk: 1 cup
Water: 3 cups
Cardamom powder: A pinch
Saffron: A pinch
Cashew nut and raisins: 3-4 tsp
Ghee: 3-4 tsp



Method
Take a pressure cooker and fry moong dal with little ghee till golden brown. Add 3 cups of water and pressure cook it up to 2 whistles. After that, mash well in the ladle. In another vessel, bring milk to boil adding saffron. Add the mashed moong dal and boil well for 5-10 minutes. Add sugar and stir well before adding ghee roasted cashews and raisins. Remove from the flame and add cardamom powder. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with cashews and raisins. Serve hot or cold.

Note: Can add jaggery instead of sugar.