Category:  Desserts

Gulab Jamun:

Gulab Jamun is a very famous Indian dessert. The name Gulab Jamun originated from Persians, they called it as Gul-aab which means Rose water and Jamun is an Arabic dessert means “the Judge’s Bite” (Luqmat Al Qadi in Arabic). This dessert Gulab Jamun was very popular during the Mughal period. There should be only very few people who don’t like Gulab jamun. Its a perfect Indian recipe for all occasions especially marriages where they serve Gulab Jamun and ice cream in hot and cold combination. My five year old son jus love this recipe…he calls it as Gulab Jaanu, so sweet when he calls like that. It is a soft dumpling made out of khoya or milk powder with little all purpose flour as the key ingredients and left in a flavored sugar syrup called as chashni. What a mouth watering taste…

How to make Gulab Jamun:

1. First make the sugar syrup or chashni by adding water, sugar, Rose Syrup, cardamoms and Saffron in a pot and boil it.
2. Once it begins boiling, low down the heat to simmer.
3. In the meantime, Heat up the oil on low medium heat and get ready for deep frying.
4. For making the gulab jamun add in all dry ingredients such as the milk powder, all purpose flour, baking soda in a mixing bowl and mix well then add the melted butter and yogurt slowly. Make into a  dough and leave it to rest for 5- 8 minutes.
5. Now take a little of the dough and make desired size balls. Make sure that they are smooth round balls and do not have any creases.
6. Now here is an important step: Test the oil by dropping a little piece of dough in the oil, if the dough settles at the bottom for minute and then raises to the surface then the oil is ready for deep frying.
7. Now gently drop 4-5 dumplings in the oil and keep rotating them till they get a even dark golden brown color.
8. Once they get that color, remove them out into a paper towel.
9. Now quickly boil the sugar syrup again and drop in the dumplings.
10. Once you drop in the dumplings turn off the flame and cover the Gulab Jamuns with a lid and leave it cool at room temperature for an hour and then later can be refrigerated.
11. Garnish as you like and serve the  Gulab Jamun hot or cold. I am sure you will get a mind blowing taste…:)

No Bake Cheesecake

No Bake Cheesecake is a simplest of all cheese cake recipes. You don’t need to bake or cook to make a cake. Follow this easy method to make No Bake Cheesecake and surprise your loved ones. You just need a refrigerator to make this cake. Isn’t it very easy…yummy cheese cake. My favorite, I m going to surprise my hubby on his birthday.

Method to prepare No Bake Cheesecake

1. Put the Digestive biscuits in a polythene bag and crush it using a rolling pin.
2. Melt the butter and mix it with the crushed biscuit for making the cheesecake base mixture.
3. Grease the cake tray (8”) with butter, pour the mixture into it and press it flat and evenly.
4. Leave this tray in the refrigerator while you prepare the filling.
5. Now gently beat the cheese, cream, sugar and vanilla essence together until you get a smooth consistency. Add in about half the grapes.
6. Pour the mixture onto the cake base and chill it in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours to allow the cake to set.
7. Once the cake is set, remove it from the cake tray and place it on the plate.
8. Decorate with the remaining fruits and chocolate sauce.
9. Serve No Bake Cheesecake chill and Yummy.

Tips for No Bake Cheesecake:

Use any cheese perferably mascarpone cheese.
Can use any fruits strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, etc..

Rasgulla Recipe:

Rasgulla Recipe is a delicious sweet syrupy Indian desserts. Rasgulla Recipe is made out of cheese which is called as paneer in Hindi. It originated from Orissa where it is called as Khira mohana and very famous throughout North India especially in Bengal and famously known as a Bengali sweet. This Rasgulla Recipe dessert is made out of Chhena (Indian cheese cottage) boiled in the syrup of sugar and water. Rasgulla Recipes are usually served chilled and in some place like Bhubaneswar these rasagullas are served hot and garnished with rose water, saffron and pistachios. Here is how you should prepare Rasgulla Recipe.

Preparation of Rasgulla Recipe:

• Boil the milk in medium heat.
• Once you got the full boiled milk remove it from the heat.
• Add Vinegar to make the milk curdle and now you can see the whey(water residue) separates from the paneer.
• Now leave it for about 5 minutes for the paneer (Indian cottage cheese) to settle down.
• Then strain it with cheesecloth or a thin piece of white fabric cloth
• Wash the paneer under cold water for a minute which will remove the vinegar.
• Then tie the cheesecloth and hang it to drain.
• After 2 hours spread the chhena (Indian cottage cheese) on the plate and knead it slowly for 5 min until it becomes very smooth dough.
• Divide the dough into 10 -12 small portions and roll them into small balls and keep it aside.
• Boil the sugar and water in a pressure cooker.
• When the sugar is completely dissolved in the water, gently drop the paneer balls inside and close it with the pressure cooker with the whistle on and try to cook till you get one whistle.
• Let it cool for few minutes. You will find the rasgulla to be spongy and doubled in size.
• Add 1tsp of rose water.
• Refrigerate it, garnish with saffron strands (I used cake sprinkles) and serve rasgulla recipe chilled.

Kunafa | Kanafe | Kanafeh | Knafeh | Kunafeh | Kunafah | كنافة | Kunafa Recipe

Kunafa recipe is a traditional Arabic sweet or dessert made from Kathafi which is a very fine vermicelli-like phyllo pastry found especially in middle eastern countries. It is also called as Kanafeh in turkish language. Kunafa is also sometimes known as shredded phyllo as it is mixed layer of shredded phyllo with a creamy cheese filling in the middle combined with another layer. Kunafa recipe is served with a flavored syrup of rose water or orange water. It is a best served dish in the gulf countries including Saudi Arabia and Emirates especially during Ramadan festival season, as people prepare kunafa recipe for iftiar. I love Kunafa recipe as its crunchy and creamy in taste. Here is an easy method to prepare Kunafa recipe  at home by yourself.

Preparation of Kunafa Recipe:

• First Pre-heat the oven to 380 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Take a big bowl and crumble the kataifi together with your hands
• Now add the melted butter into the bowl and mix the Kataifi with it thoroughly.
• On a greased pan put half of the mixture of the Kataifi and butter in the bottom and spread it out as a crust and keep it apart.
• Preparation for the cream: Mix the ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese in a big bowl. Take a pan and slowly heat the milk for a minute and then add the semolina and cook for 30 seconds, now combine this mixture with the cheese.
• Pour the cheese mixture on top of the kataifi crust in the pan and spread it evenly
• Put the remaining kataifi mixture on top of the cheese to form another crust on the top.
• Place the pan in oven and cook it at 350-400 degrees for 40- 45 minutes until the crust on the top is golden brown.
• Remove it from the oven and let it stand for 30 minutes,
• Then invert the Kunafa onto a nice plate
• Pour the syrup over it and serve it.
• Garnish with cashew nuts

Do it yourself Kunafa recipe and enjoy this arabic dessert at your home.

Basundi:

Basundi is definitely an Indian dessert mainly made in Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar and Karnataka. Basundi is a sweetened thick milk made by boiling the milk on low flame heat until the milk is reduced by half to get a thicker consistency. Cream can be added in the process of boiling to speed up the thickening procedure. When lowered, slightly add sugar, cardamom, Buchanania seeds which are also called as Charoli or saffron. This sweet dessert is usually served cold, usually garnished with pieces of pistachios and almonds. This Basundi recipe is prepared in different styles like Sitaphal (like Custard apple) Basundi and Angoor Basundi which is Basundi with Rasgullas in it.

Preparation of Basundi Recipe:

1. Soak the almonds and cashew for 15 minutes and blend it and keep it aside.
2. Reserve few almonds and cashew for garnishing.
3. Boil the milk in a simmer low heat till the milk coats the back of the spoon.
4. Stir the paste of almonds and cashew with a cup of milk and then mix it with the milk that was boiled.
5. Add sugar and saffron and cook it till the sugar dissolves.
6. Refrigerate it and garnish with sliced almonds, pistachios and cashews.
7. Serve it cool.

Tip while making Basundi:

Basbousa Recipe:

Basbousa or sweet semolina cake with rose water and lemon syrup is extremely popular in Middle East and also throughout Egypt. Basbousa Recipe are usually prepared in a large tray, and cut into diamond or square shapes with any type of nuts like almond, pistachios, cashew or pea nut in the center of each piece for decoration and finally soaked with the delicious sweet syrup on it. Aah Heavenly taste.!

Preparation of Basbousa Recipe:

1. Take bowl, mix the above ingredients (semolina, coconut, caster sugar, self raising flour, yoghurt, melted butter and vanilla).
2. Spread the mixture into a greased baking tray.
3. And cut into diamond shapes.
4. Put one almond in the centre of each diamond.
5. Place the tray in an oven at 180 degree Celsius for 30-40 min until it is golden brown.

What is Kheer Recipe?

Kheer recipe is a traditional festival dish for all occasions and we used to do it in a house warming ceremony in India. It is also known as rice pudding adorned with pistachios, cashews and almonds, an easy and all time favorite dessert for every age. This Kheer is otherwise called as Phirni. The simple difference between Kheer and Phirni is the amount of milk. If the amount of milk is more, it is called Kheer and when the amount of milk is less then it is Phirni. This Kheer or Phirni are usually consumed along with Naan and badam Halwa in some of the Muslim marriages.

How to prepare Kheer Recipe:

1. First wash and soak the Basmati rice in a cup of water for 15 minutes.
2. Drain and pat dry using a muslin(white) cloth and grind the rice as nice as coarse powder.
3. Drain the almonds and pistachios in one cup of hot water for 5 minutes. This will make easy to peel the skin of the almond and chop them into small pieces.
4.  Heat the milk in a pan and bring it to boiling stage till the milk becomes thick with creamy foam at the top.
5. Add the Basmati rice powder, sugar and generally cook on a low heat flame.
6. When the rice is boiling add the cardamom powder, saffron and nuts and cook to shimmer on low heat flame till the rice is cooked completely.
7. Once when the mixture is thick enough remove it from the heat flame and allow it to cool.
8. Garnish with more chopped almonds and pistachios.
9. Kheer recipe  is usually served in a small clay bowls which are also called as matkas.
10. Kheer Recipe can be refrigerated and served. Ummmmm…Mouth watering isn’t it?

Tip to watch out while cooking Kheer Recipe:

Healthy benefits of Kheer Recipe:

Try kheer recipe now and tell us how tasty it was by leaving your comments below. Also kindly do share this kheer recipe to your next door neighbor in Facebook and Twitter.