Homemade Sweets - Carrot Halwa & Mixed Fruit Rawa Kesari (Sheera)

Here's the recipe link of Mixed Fruit Rawa Kesari

Here's the recipe link of Carrot Halwa

Paneer Butter Masala

Paneer Butter Masala (New recipe) - – A delicious North Indian dish. Best with parathas , rotis , pulao …

Ingredients

For the cashew nut paste:

Soak 8 cashew nuts in 2 tablespoon water for 1 hour.  Cover and keep aside.

For brown onion paste:

Ingredients

2 tablespoon oil

2 onions (medium size), thinly sliced (separate each layer)

¼ teaspoon sugar

Method

Heat oil in a frying pan / karahi on a medium heat. Add thinly sliced onions and fry till light golden color (approximate time 10 -12 minutes).  Do not fry on high heat.

At this stage (color changes form pink to light golden and no moisture), add 1/4 teaspoon sugar and fry / toss on a medium to low heat for another 8 minutes / until done.  It will become crisp and golden color. Switch off the heat. Carefully remove fried onions from oil and keep aside to cool for 15 minutes. Do not use remaining oil for other cooking purpose. 

For the tomato puree:

Ingredients

2 big size tomatoes

½ cup water

Microwave method:

Wash tomatoes well.  Then cross-cut a slit into the bottom of the tomato. This helps even cooking and makes it easier to peel the tomato skins off later.

In a microwave safe bowl, boil tomatoes with ½ cup water (half of the level of tomatoes) for 4 minutes on high power (750 W). Keep aside to cool for half an hour. Gently remove boiled tomatoes from the bowl and peel the skin off the tomatoes. Reserve tomato stock. It may be ¼ to ½ cup.

Normal cooking:

In a bowl, boil tomatoes (cross – cut a slit into the bottom of the tomato. This helps even cooking and makes it easier to peel the tomato skins off later) with 1 cup water for 12 – 15 minutes until done and soft. Keep aside to cool for half an hour. Gently remove boiled tomatoes from the bowl and peel the skin off the tomatoes. Reserve tomato stock. It may be ¼ to ½ cup.

For the paste:

In a small mixer bowl, transfer  boiled tomatoes (without stock), soaked cashew nuts (along with water in which it’s soaked) and brown onion. Make a smooth paste. Do not add water when making paste. It should be thick and creamy in consistency.

Other ingredients

1 tablespoon oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 teaspoon thick ginger – garlic paste

½ teaspoon red chilli powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon coriander powder

Cashew nut – tomato – brown onion paste

 ½ cup water (100 ml – 150 ml water)

¾ teaspoon salt (or to taste)

½ teaspoon garam masala power or a mix of ¼ teaspoon clove powder, ¼ teaspoon nutmeg powder and ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder

200 g paneer (cottage cheese), cut into cubes

1 tablespoon chopped coriander leaves

Method

Dilute red chilli powder, coriander powder and turmeric powder in 2 tablespoon water and keep aside (spice mix).

In a pan or karahi, heat oil on high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and fry onions till golden color.

Add ginger – garlic paste and fry for 2  minutes or until  raw smell goes.

Add diluted red chilli powder – turmeric powder and coriander. Fry on a low heat for 2 minutes until water dries up and well combined with all the ingredients.

Add tomato – cashew nut – brown onion paste, reserved tomato stock, salt to taste, garam masala powder and ¾ cup water. Mix all the ingredients well. Cover with a lid and cook on a medium heat for 10 – 12 minutes until it boils vigorously.

At this stage, add paneer cubes. Mix well. Cover again with a lid and cook on a medium for 5 minutes until paneer well cooked. Paneer will cook very fast. Check the texture of the paneer. If it’s soft and spongy in texture, switch off the heat. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves. Serve hot with parathas / rotis / pulao..

Eggless Caramel Cake

Eggless Caramel Cake

Ingredients

For the caramel syrup:

6 tablespoon sugar

50 ml warm water

Method

Heat a pan or karahi on medium heat. Add sugar (spread it evenly) and heat sugar in a pan on medium heat  till it melts and becomes brown (smooth solution without any sugar sugar crystals). Switch off the heat. Maintain a safe distance from the pan and add warm water to make caramel syrup. Keep aside for 10 minutes. Do not use thick sugar crystals. Collect clear caramel syrup.

Other ingredients

200 g (Cup measurement – 1 ¾ cup + 1 tablespoon in Indian standard measuring cup of 1 cup / 200 ml / 8 oz capacity) all purpose flour (maida)

1 teaspoon  baking Powder

100 g butter

1 tin sweetened condensed milk (Milkmaid or Amul  Mithaimate)

Caramel sugar syrup

50 ml aerated soda (3 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon)

Method

Grease baking dish with 1 teaspoon butter and dust with 1 tablespoon flour (sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of flour inside a cake pan and shake to coat all greased surface. Turn pan upside down to tap out the excess flour ).

Sieve thrice flour, baking powder and salt.

Preheat oven (OTG) at 170 *C or 325 *F.

Soften butter in a pan; mix in  sweetened Condensed Milk. Fold in the sifted maida with the condensed -butter mixture. Add caramel syrup. Mix well until well combined (At this stage, cake batter will be very thick in consistency).

Now add aerated soda (50 ml). Cake batter should be just like normal cake batter.

Pour the batter (up to 3/4th level) into the greased cake tin (round or square or loaf dish)and bake at 170 * C for 22 – 25 minutes or till golden brown or till a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean / leaves from the sides of the pan. 

Remove from the oven and keep aside to cool for half to one hour. Run a knife round inside of the pan to loosen the cake, and then invert the pan. Once it reaches normal room temperature, cover cake gently with a butter paper / cling film / aluminium foil and store in a refrigerator for minimum 2 hours or overnight. Then it will be very easy to make perfect slices.

Cake cutting tip:

Heat a knife first before cutting a cake for crumble-free slices. To heat the knife, you can run the knife under very hot water (or heat knife directly in a gas flame) then wipe dry with a clean towel.

Coriander Stuffed Lachha Paratha

Coriander Stuffed Lachha Paratha

Makes 6 lachha parathas

Ingredients

For the stuffing:

¼ bunch  coriander leaves (Wash and clean leaves. Drain out water thoroughly and chop finely)

1 cheese cube, finely grated (optional)

¼ teaspoon salt

Method

In a small bowl, mix chopped coriander leaves, salt and grated cheese (optional).

For the dough:

Ingredients

350 g whole wheat flour ( gehun ka atta )

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oil

150 ml warm  water

9 teaspoon ghee / oil for topping

Method

In a bowl, combine the flour and salt and knead into soft and pliable dough with 150 ml warm water.

Add the oil and knead again till the dough is smooth and elastic.

Cover and keep in an air tight container for 4 - 5 hours or overnight in a refrigerator.

Remove from refrigerator and allow become normal temperature (or half an hour).

Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.

Use a little flour to roll each portion into circles of approximately ( 8 - inch ) diameter ( slightly bigger than normal chapati ).

Dust off any excess dry flour. Apply ½ teaspoon oil / ghee on top of the rolled roti evenly.

Sprinkle coriander – cheese mixture evenly (or any other filling - egg filling, keema filling, paneer filling ...)

Gathered the roti into concertina folds, as you would do in the making of a paper fan. 

Roll the gathered roti into a circle to resemble a scroll (like a Swiss roll ). Repeat this process for remaining dough.

Apply little oil on top and keep in an airtight container for one hour.

Use a little flour to roll each portion into circle of 6 - inch.

Heat a flat frying pan or griddle. Reduce heat to medium and cook lachha parathas till golden brown on both the sides / you can see the layers clearly ( approximate cooking time 8 minutes for each paratha ). Apply oil / ghee during frying.

Serve hot with pickle / curd / any gravy dishes of your choice.