Indian milk cake

Ingredients:
6 cups of whole milk
Approximately 3 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon crushed cardamom
2 tablespoons ghee or unsalted butter
Approximately 1 table sliced pistachios for garnish

Grease a 6-inch plate and set aside. In a large, wide and heavy saucepan bring the milk to a boil over medium high heat. And let it boil for 2-3 minutes. Add lemon juice to the milk, it will begin to curdle.
Use minimum amount of lemon juice to just start the curdling process and prevent the whey (milky water) from completely separating immediately. Boil for 5 minutes and remove approx. 1 ½ cups of the whey. This will help reduce the tartness from the cake. Continue to cook and stir occasionally until the milk is a grainy consistency and the whey is evaporated.
This will take an additional 15-20 minutes. Add sugar and cardamom and keep stirring until the mixture starts coming together. This should take approximately 5 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and cook for another 4-5 minutes until mixture changes to a slightly golden brown color.
Transfer mixture to the greased plate and press firmly into a square shape, approximately 1 inch high. As an option, sprinkle sliced pistachios on top. Let sit for at least an hour before slicing into individual pieces. Tips this wonderful dessert can be prepared ahead of time and stored at room temperature for a few days.
It is generally a few inches tall and has different shades of color throughout. However, this recipe will make an even colored cake that is approximately 1 inch thick. The taste of this Milk Cake is identical to what I have grown up enjoying as a delicacy in our home.

Besan Ladoo

Ingredients:
2 cups gram flour (besan/chickpea flour)
1 1/2 cup sugar
½ tsp cardamom powder
¾ -1 cup ghee (clarified butter)
15-20 raisins/ cashew pieces

Heat the ghee in a heavy bottom pan.
Note: This is the tough and time consuming part, but the taste of the ladoos depends on this step.
Add the gram flour and fry it on a low flame stirring continuously till it releases a warm nutty aroma and the flour turns very light brown. This takes about 35- 45 minutes (or even more). Add more ghee in small quantities if required.
Once it is lightly and evenly browned, transfer it to a plate, set aside and let it cool.
Add powdered cardamom and sugar and mix well.
Shape into ladoos and add chopped almonds (optional) and raisins on each of them.
Store in air tight containers.

Nariyal mithai

Ingredients:
Dessicated coconut powder 250 gms
Milk powder 2 spoons
Sugar 250 gms
Water 2 small cups
desired colour (edible food colour)
White rose essence few drops

In a thick bottom pan,add water and sugar,and let it boil for few minutes till a syrup of thick consistency is obtained(this is tricky one,as syrup should not be too dilute ,nor too thick)
Now divide this syrup into two halves,add little amount of green colour in one half and leave the other half as it is
Now mix milk powder in the coconut powder.
Put the colorless syrup in the pan and add half of the coconut mixture in it and cook it,mixing continuously,so that the coconut doesn’t get burned or charred. Cook till the mixture start sticking to pan
Put it off the flame and mix few drops of rose essence and pour the mix on greased plate and smooth en down till the layer is at least 1 inch thick (a little more or less)
Now repeat the same procedure with colour syrup and remaining coconut powder,and lay it over the white layer,smoothing it down (you can wet your hands ,coz the hot mixture is sticky)
Let it cool for a while and then cut it into pieces of desired shapes.

Coconut Burfi

Ingredients
Grated Coconut - 1 cup
Sugar - 1 cup
Rava - 1 tbsp
Ghee - 1 tbsp
Cashew nuts - 10
Cardamom a pinch

Grate the coconut. roast the grated coconut. Meanwhile roast the cashew nuts in ghee and keep it aside.
Add water enough to just cover the sugar and melt the sugar. bring the syrup to a boil. The syrup be of one thread consistency.
Add the grated coconut, cardamom powder, cashew nuts to the sugar syrup. Stir well so that it gets mixed fully! Keep stirring or else it might get burnt. You will know its done when the coconut starts coming off the pan. Adding rava help in binding the coconut and sugar.
For more taste, Add some cashew nuts.

Grease a plate. Then once the burfi is done, pour on to the greased plate. Just tap the plate down, it will get set automatically. Using a greased spatula, spread on the top for a even spread.
With a knife, make horizontal lines and then do a cross line across to get diamond shaped Burfi.

Enjoy this time old traditional Indian sweet anytime of the day!

Palgova

INGREDIENTS
1 can condensed milk
1 spoon curd
1 spoon ghee

METHOD
Pour condensed milk in a big microwavable dish.
Add 1 spoon curd and 1 spoon ghee.
Mix it well and keep it in the microwave.
Stir it, every 2 minutes.
Keep it for for 5 minutes and cool to serve.

Chocolate Halwa

ingredients
Butter - 50 gm
Condensed milk - 1/2 tin
Powdered sugar - 5 tsp
Cocoa powder - 2 tsp
Marie biscuit - 100 gm
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tbsp

Make the Marie Biscuit powdered using a rolling stick.
On a pan on low fire, mix butter, condensed milk, powdered sugar, cocoa powder, powdered Marie biscuit and vanilla essence for at least 10 Min's.
Keep this mixture undisturbed for at least 1 hour and make it into your favorite shapes like small balls or put it in a serving dish and keep refrigerated.
After refrigerated, you can cut it like Halwa.

Aval Payasam

Ingredients:

1/4 Cup poha (flattened rice)
1 Litre whole cream milk
5 Almonds, thinly slivered
5 Pistachios thinly slivered
5 Pinches cardamom powder
1 Cup sugar
4 Cashews, broken
15 Raisins

Wash and drain the poha. Leave it aside for 10 minutes.Separate poha grains with your finger. Boil the milk in a large vessel.When milk starts boiling, add poha and stir gently.Bring to boil again.Simmer till milk volume reduces to half. Stir occasionally.Now add sugar and cardamom. Stir to dissolve.Add raisins and cashews. Simmer for 2 more minutes.
Garnish with chopped almonds and pistachios.
Aval Payasam is ready.

Coconut Laddoo

Ingredients:

3 cups Dry Coconut (shredded)
1 cup Milk
2 cups Sugar

Boil the milk in a pan.When it starts boiling, add 2 cups shredded coconut and mix well.When the milk gets absorbed in coconut, add the sugar.
Stir continuously on medium flame until the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan.Remove and make small balls.Take the remaining coconut on a plate.
Roll the balls in shredded coconut to make laddus.
Coconut Laddoos are ready to serve

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients:

1 cup All Purpose Flour
2 pinch Soda Powder
100 gms Ghee
3/4 Liter Milk
6 Cardamoms (crushed)
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Rose Essence
2 Pinch Saffron

For Syrup:
3 cups Sugar
3 cups Water

Boil the milk till it reduces to half cup.Cool and add soda powder and 1tbsp sugar.
Mix properly and make it smooth.Slowly add flour and prepare a fine dough. Leave it for an hour.Apply little ghee on the palms.Make small balls from the prepared mixture.Pour ghee in a pan and heat. Fry the balls in ghee on a low flame.Boil water with equal amount of sugar. Also add cardamom and saffron.Filter and add rose essence to it.Put the fried balls in this solution.
Remove after 3-4 hours.Gulab Jamun is ready to serve.

Kulfi

Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups Full Cream Milk
1/2 cup Condensed Milk
1/4 cup Milk Powder
1/2 tsp Cardamom Powder


Combine all the ingredients together in a pan and bring to a boil.Now add the cardamom powder and lower the flame.Cook for 10 minutes till the mixture thickens. Allow to cool completely.
Pour into kulfi moulds and freeze overnight till firm.
Cream Kulfi is ready.

Milk Burfi

Ingredients:
400g milk powder
500g sugar
150g ghee or butter
Cardamom powder
1/2 cup water
Cashew
Vanilla

Method:
Melt the ghee and add it to the milk powder and crumble it well. Keep water and sugar in low fire till a thread consistency is reached. Then to this add the milk mixture, to this add vanilla and cardamom.

The cashew can be either put in the burfi or sprinkled over the burfi after it is poured on a greased tray. (make sure that ur sugar syrup reaches the thread consistency before u add the milk powder only then ur burfi will set well).