Pineapple halwa

I have eaten pineapple halwa at hotels. I have liked it ...the aroma as also the flavour . I had seen it in some recipe blogs. I tried it & it turned out well. On Akshaytritiya, I decided to make it again.

I looked up the recipe on Veg recipes of India.  In another recipe ( I forgot the blog name )  of pinapple sheera, ghee used is 3 tbsps for making sheera using 1/ 2 cup rava. I decided to use this ratio of ghee to rava.

I got two packets of pineapple slices which is available on Mumbai streets now. Each packet costs 10 bucks & has 4-5 thin slices of pineapple .I used the pineapple slices of both the packets.

Ingredients : 8-10 slices of pineapple, 1/2 cup rava, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 .5 tbsps ghee, 1 cup water, kesar strands ( optional ) , 2-3 cardamoms ( powdered ) , assorted dry fruits thinly sliced ( optional ).

Method : Keep 1 cup of water needed, on slow gas for heating it up.

Cut the pineapple into bits. I pureed the slices. Some pieces ( the middle part ) remained like that only. Keep this mix of pureed & hard pineapple aside.

Meanwhile roast rawa in ghee in a kadhai. Roast it nicely. I had dry roasted rawa nicely earlier. So in ghee, I  roasted it for less than 2-3 minutes. Add the pureed pineapple & the hard pineapple pieces into the ghee roasted rawa in kadhai. Mix all nicely. Let it cook for 4-5 minutes. Keep a watch by constantly turning the contents of kadhai up & down with a large ladle so that nothing gets stuck to kadhai bottom. Add the heated  water to the kadahi. Mix all contents nicely.  After 2-3 minutes, stir up the contents & continue cooking for 2 -3 minutes. Uncover the lid. Add sugar.Mix all the contents nicely. Add kesar strands. Mix again. Let it cook for 2-3 minutes. Stir with the ladle.Add cardamom powder.Mix all contents nicely. Cook for 1-2 minutes. The sheera is ready. If water can still be seen in the kadahi , cook for 2-3 minutes more. Switch off gas.

Cut thin slices of assorted dry fruits & garnish sheera with the slices of dry fruits.I have garnished with thin slices of cashew nuts. Even almonds & pistas can be used as garnish. Some recipes raost dry fruits in ghee & add them to such halwas.

Igfelt that 1/4 cup ghee was a better ratio for making sheera from 1/2 cup sooji so that the sheera looks moist. Mine was some what dry.

Apple Halwa.

I had got leftover unsweetened apple sauce. This sauce was brought from store by my teen for making cakes eggless. I thought why not make a sweet dish using this apple sauce & yet, I wanted to avoid cakes , cookies etc.I googled & came across this apple halwa. I looked up one more recipe .My recipe is a combination of both these recipes & maybe a little bit of some tweaking of the recipes.

Ingredients : 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce ( apples can be used as well as in this recipe ) , 1 cup sugar, 1 tbsp ghee, 1 tsp ghee for greasing the plate, assorted dry fruits chopped, 1 tsp cardamom powder.

Method : Take a thick kadhai & add ghee. As it melts, add the unsweetened apple sauce. Keep gas on slow flame throughout the recipe . Keep frying the apple sauce till it tarts thickening as it loses moisture. Please check so that it does not get stuck to the bottom of the kadhai

Add sugar to the thickened apple sauce ghee mix in the kadhai. The sugar will start melting .Keep stirring so that all ingredients mix nicely.Add the chopped dry fruits into the mix. Mix all nicely.  Every now & then give a good stir to the contents.As the mix in the kadhai gets thickening again, be careful.It will soon start leaving the sides of the kadhai.  Let it be on the gas stove.

Grease a plate with ghee all over.

Put off the gas. Pour the thickened halwa into the grease plate. Spread it evenly with a bottom of the katori. Let it cool.Then cut into desired shapes & serve.

My halwa became too sweet Next time, I would be using less sugar ...maybe 3/4 cup  sugar for 1 cup apple sauce or maybe even half cup sugar would be apt.

Beet root halwa in microwave.

I had made beetroot halwa once earlier a kadhai on gas stove once.I had not posted it then. This time in Navratri, I decided to make this halwa in the microwave.

A few words about malai or cream. I remove malai daily from the milk which has been heated up & cooled as I don't like malai in tea, coffee , chaas etc.I cannot use this malai for making butter or ghee as it is low fat .I get low fat milk . .Every once in the month, when malai has accumalated to nearly 1 cup or more, I make some sweet dish using malai like carrot halwa, doodhi halwa etc.

Ingredients : 1.5 cups peeled & grated beetroot, 1 cup malai, 1/2 cup sugar,1/2 tsp elaichi powder, 1 tbsp ghee, assorted dry fruits for garnsihing.

Method : Take a microwaveable vessel.Add ghee to it & grated beetroot to it. Mix gheee with beetroot .Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Remove the vessel .Stir the beetroot nicely.Add the malai to it & mix with the beetrroot. Microwave on high for two minutes. Remove vessel from microwave. Give the ingredients a good stir. Microwave on high again for 2 minutes .Give one more good stir to the ingredients of the vessel & once gain microwave on high for 2 minutes.

Add sugar to the vessel.Mix all the ingredients in the vessel nicely so that sugar is evenly distributed. Microwave on high for 2 minutes. Give the ingredients astir & repeat heating in microwave on high. Repeat process one or two  times.Add cardamom powder to the vessel. Mix all ingredients nicely. Microwave on hih for one minute. Put off microwave.

Let the vessel cool in microwave for 15-20 minutes. Remove the vessel from microwave. Add thinly sliced dry fruits as garnish. Serve beetroot halwa hot with assorted dry fruits as garnish.

I used thinly sliced pistas as garnish & the green colour of pistas perfectly compliments the rich red hue of the beetoot halwa ! I read that beetroot halwa will taste divine with ice cream, ! Next time, I make this halwa, I will get ice cream to go with it ! 

Microwave doodhi halwa

Lauki is saatvik veggie.My doctor always used to suggest that patients suffering from fever eat lauki ki sabzi.It is cooling as well.

I have made doodhi halwa on gas stove earlier.This time around,I wanted to make it in microwave. I googled for it & got this Tarla Dalal recipe.My recipe is little different.

Ingredients : 2 cups peeled & grated dudhi, 1+ 1/2  cups malai , 1/3  cup sugar, few kesar strands, 1/2 tsp elaichi powder,2 tbsp ghee,assorted nuts for garnishing.

Method : I used grated dudhi as it is  that is I let the lauki be as it is.I did not squeeze out water as I felt all nutrients of lauki would be lost.

I took a shallow microwaveable vessel & added ghee.Add the grated lauki & mix.Microwave on high for 5 minutes.Add malai mixed with kesar strands Again microwave for 2.5 minutes.Mix nicely.Add sugar.Mix.Microwave for 2.5 minutes.Again mix & microwave on high for 2.5 minutes.Add elaichi powder.Mix & microwave on high for two minutes.

Put off microwave.Let it cool in microwave for 10 minutes.Take out the vessel & let it cool outside for 20-25 minutes.Serve in bowls garnished with almonds or any nuts of choice.

My dad & all my extended family who ate the halwa relished it.I ate it later & agreed with them that it had indeed turned out delicious !

Tips : The halwa was sweet & yet, just so.If you would like it to be more sweet, please add more sugar as per taste.

Strawberry rasgullas.

I have made strawberry rasgullas before .And did not post the recipe as the colour was wanting in the rasgullas.This time also , the colour is still lacking .And yet , I am posting this recipe. I tried many times .Just couldn't get the vibrant colours , other food bloggers got for their strawberry rasgullas. I have used fresh strawberries.

Ingredients : 1/ 2 litre milk, 1/2 cup sugar, 10 strawberries, ghee for greasing hands for making chenna balls 1 lemon cut into two pieces,1-2 cups water.

Method : Bring 0.5 litres milk to a boil,Squeeze lemon juice onto the boiled milk.It will start curdling.Add more lemon juice & the whey will separate from the milk .At last, clear water & whey will seperate. In a thin cloth, strain the ingredients.The milk solids will get retained in the cloth. The water can be collected in a vessel & used for making chapati dough.It can be added to cook rice as well as it is protein rich.

Wash the milk solids thus collected under tap water for 4-5 minutes. Squeeze out all water from the milk solids by holding all corners of the cotton cloth. Keep a weight on the cloth containing milk solids so that remanent water is squeezed out by the weight .Keep aside for 25-30 minutes.

Meanwhile in a wide vessel ,add 1 cup water.Add sugar.Make a puree of 8 strawberries.Pour this puree in the water. Chop remaining strawberries & put them in water. Bring this water to a boil.Put off gas.

Take the milk solids from the cloth.Make a smooth dough with the chenna ( milk solids collected in cloth )  by kneading for 10 minutes Apply a little ghee to palms & make chenna balls.I got 15 balls of the size of marbles. Drop these chenna balls into the sugar strawberry syrup.I added 1 more cup water to the syrup as the chenna balls had not drowned completely.Pressure cook the drowned chenna balls in sugar strawberry syrup till first whistle.Slow down the gas.Cook on slow flame for 10 minutes.Put off gas. Let the cooker cool.Remove whistle.Remove lid. The strawberry rasgullas are ready ! Refrigerate the rasgullas before serving !

Though ,I followed the recipe by Priya , the colour of rasgullas by me is nowhere near her  strawberry rasgullas.

Sangeeta Khanna says that some colours get absorbed & not all.I agree for obvious reasons. Moreover, my syrup is unclear or rather foggy. I loved the taste though ! My mom said they were less sweet ...for me that was a sign of weaning myself away from sugar.

Gajar Halwa in microwave

I have posted a gajar halwa recipe earlier.That was made in a kadhai.

Since I have a microwave convection oven ,I thought of trying to make carrot halwa in microwave.I googled & got this microwave recipe here.And it turned out amazing ! Saved me, a lot of time.

I keep removing malai from my milk every time it forms on the milk.I buy Amul Taaza Milky Milk (with 3 % fat minimum & S.N.F.8.5% minimum ).I collect malai & keep it in freezer.I generally collect malai for nearly a month.Then ,use it for almond halwa ,doodhi halwa or carrot halwa.Carrot halwa is made only during  winters.

Ingredients : 4 cups de peeled & grated carrots , 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp cardamom powder, 2 tbsp ghee, 1 cup de frozen malai ( remove from freezer & let it remain outside to attain room temperature...almost 3-4 hrs ),dry fruits to garnish ( optional ).

Method : Take a microwaveable dish.Add ghee & the grated carrots. Microwave on high for 3 minute.Let it stand in microwave for 2 minutes.Remove the dish & add sugar, malai & mix in nicely with garted carrot ghee mix.Microwave on high for 10 minutes.Let it stand for 5 minutes in microwave.Remove dish & add cardamom powder.Mix nicely.Microwave on high for 2 minutes.Let dish be in microwave for 5 minutes. Remove from microwave.Serve in katoris or bowls .Garnish with dry fruits like almonds, pistachios & cashewnuts.

My daughter hates desserts with nuts added.Hence the garnish.

Microwave gajar halwa is a hit ! Loved it ! And what a lovely colour !

Mango rasgullas.

I have tried strawberry rasgullas as also orange rasgullas though have not yet posted the recipes.

Since mangoes are the flavour of the season ,i thought of trying mango rasgullas. I googled & came across two recipes.....one at Priya's Versatile recipes & another at boldsky.

I mixed up the two recipes.

Ingredients : 1/3 cup mango puree ( used Kesar mango puree ....home made from kesar mango ), 1/4 cup sugar, 1/2 litre fat free milk ( Amul ), juice of 1/2 - 1 lemon, 1-2 strands kesar, ghee for greasing hands, 1/2-1 lemon
.
Method : Boil half a litre of milk.Add kesar strands.As soon as malai starts forming ,add lemon juice by the spoonful ..Keep mixing the lemon juice with milk with a spoon. The milk will start curdling. Keep adding lemon juice & mixing till milk is curdled completely.This stage is when clear greenish water can be seen separated from lumps of solid white milky mass.The milky mass is chenna.

Keep a big white thin cotton cloth over a strainer.Keep this on a big vessel so that the clear water gets collected in the vessel.Strain the curdled milk with chenna on to the cloth on the strainer. The chenna will get collected in the cloth. Add 1 tbsp mango puree to the chenna. Mix nicely. Now wash the chenna with water 3-4 times  to remove all traces of lemon juice. Tie the cloth into a tight knot .This will squeeze remaining water from the chenna. Keep a heavy bottomed pan on the knotted cloth .Keep aside for half an hour to 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil 1 cup water in a  pressure pan .Add sugar.After sugar has dissolved inwater, put off gas. Add remaining mango puree .Add 1 cup water. Keep aside.

After 45 minutes of keeping chenna, it will have lost most of the water. Start kneading the chenna. Knead it for a good ten minutes. It will get softer & softer just like chapatti dough. Grease hands & start making small balls of the soft kneaded chenna. Drop these balls in the sugar mango syrup. Pressure cook upto 1 whistle. Then slow down the gas. Let it be on slow flame for 5 minutes. Put off the gas after five minutes.

Let the cooker cool.Remove lid & lo ,the mango rasgullas in mango puree are ready !

Let them cool to room temperature.Refrigerate the rasgullas & enjoy cold mango rasgullas !

I used Kesar mangoes as they are more sweet than alphansos.The sweetness was just right or maybe less sweet. Next time around, would love to try this without adding any sugar & using just pulp with water .

Pomegranate raita

This is one of my atya's favourite raita.Raitas are wonderful-  green cooking meaning absolutely no cooking or in exceptional cases,minimal cooking is needed.Raiats are ready in a jiffy & make use of raw ingredients. Riatas are in effect fruits and or veggies in combination with dahi ! A complete health food.A complete meal in itself.If it has fruit ,it is also the dessert !

Ingredients : 1 pomegranate,2 tbsp dahi,1/2 tsp roasted cumin powder,1/2 tsp pepper powder,salt to taste.

Method : Wash pomegranate.Remove the peel of the fruit & deseed it.Put all the seeds in a plate.Keep aside.

In a bowl ,take dahi & beat it till it has paste consistency.Add the pomegranate seeds & mix.Now add the roasted jeera powder & pepper powder & mix.Add salt & mix again.

The raita is ready -so colorful & healthy !

Doodhi halwa

I had brought doodhi last week & still had not used it.I also had cream in the freezer- home cream - I remove malai from milk & keep it in a box in the freezer for 9-10 days at a stretch.I thought of making doodhi halwa like gajar halwa.

I googled for the recipe &  was inspired by this recipe at vah re vah !

Ingredients : 1 cup peeled & grated doodhi( bottle gourd ),1/2 cup frozen malai, 1tsp ghee ( optional ),1/2 cup sugar,5-6 almonds -grated or finely chopped.

Method : Clean the doodhi & peel it.Grate the doodhi.Remove the malai from the freezer.Let it attain room temperature.

Take a kadhai & put  on gas.Gas must be on slow burner.Let it warm.Pour the malai on to the kadhai & now put the grated doodhi on to it.Mix both the malai & doodhi nicely.Cook the mix in the kadhai -covering the kadhai with a lid.After 5-6 minutes,uncover the kadhai & mix the contents with spoon.Cover with lid & let it cook again.Repeat this 3-4 times.By this time,doodhi & malai would have mixed nicely & got cooked.Now add sugar.Mix nicely.Cover with lid & let it cook.After 5-6 minutes,uncover the lid  & mix nicely.Repeat once more.By this time ,all water would have evaporated.Add a tsp ghee & mix nicely.It will give a nice aroma to the halwa. Put off the gas.

Serve the halwa garnished with grated almonds or finely chopped almonds.I garnish with almonds as my kid does not like any dry fruits in halwa.Alternately,one can fry dry fruits like chopped almonds,cashews in ghee & add them to the halwa.