Instant Phirni / Semolina Pudding

Festive season, Get together with friends , dinner party, wedding occasion,  dessert which comes to my mind immediately is Phirni.  After a heavy main course like Biryani or any spicy curries, phirni is something which cools and soothes you.  A traditional phirni is made using ground rice, although it's not that complicated process, I always prefer the instant version using semolina.  Personally I don't see any wide difference between semolina phirni and ground rice phirni in terms of texture and flavour.  Also this Instant version is a solution to quick dessert.

Gujias With Paneer and Coconut filling

It's been so colourful this week everywhere, not just in India and in our great blogosphere too.  Oh! Yeah, everybody around here is celebrating Holi,  I don't know much about this festival and we don't celebrate it either, but I don't think there is nothing wrong in getting tempted by the sweets which are specially made for Holi. Although being a food blogger is a real pleasure, sometimes I feel like we do have a few disadvantages, like started craving and tempted by the foods which we see in other blogs  or may be it's just me :( 

Banofee pie in a glass for Sweet Punch January 2012

To start this new year with a Sweet Punch, our team has selected Banofee Pie from Swapna's Cuisine. Banofee Pie is a traditional English dessert, made with pastry or crumbled biscuit base, topped with toffee, bananas and cream, layers and  layers of yumminess.  The layer which I loved the most in this dessert is toffee or  dulce de leche, I would even love to dulce de leche just as a dessert on it's own, straight from the can, well who  wouldn't  ; )

Daring Baker's Challenge For August 2011 : Candylicious

This month Daring Baker's Challenge was too sweet with full of candies, home made chocolate, barks, truffles....

Rose Pudding (Eggless)

When you say a pudding is eggless, there are only few options like custard powder, cornflour, gelatin , agar agar and may be a few other options too.  To me the last one agar agar is always the best.  Agar Agar is a must in Iftar particularly for people in South India.  There are some foods cools you down  when you have it but they don't cool the inside of your body.

Baklava Rolls for Daring Baker's Challenge June 2011

Ha! Back to Daring Baker's Challenge after 2 months.  I missed last two wonderful challenges, but somehow with lots of challenges I made it up this month.  As always I did a last minute job this time also.  This month Erica of Erica's Edibles challenged us to make Baklava's with our own phyllo pastry.  Wow! Now that's quite challenging isn't, yes I really felt the heat this time, baking at nearly 38 degree Celsius.

Tiramisu

I know my past few posts are full of sweets and desserts and my blog is been loaded with high sugar and calories.  I don't know what's wrong with me, in the past few weeks, almost every week, I try minimum of 1 dessert or sweet.
 

Panacotta in Eggshell- Daring Baker's Challenge for February 2011

Our challenge for February 2011 is to make Panacotta with florentines.  This challenge was given to us by Mallory.  Panocotta is a creamy and wobbly dessert, almost everyone will love this dessert. Along with this we have to bake a crispy florentine cookies.

   When I was a kid , puddings using agar agar is something very common in my place.  Although it din't have such a smooth texture as panacotta, still agar agar puddings are my favourite.  Particularly when my mom makes it in egg shell, I just loved it.  Yes, you heard it right, it's egg shell.  Don't worry it's not going to poison you.  We always name it as sweet egg and have fun with it.  So when I saw the challenge for this month, I decided to make it in egg shell, to bring back all my childhood memories and I did some in regular glasses too.

Baklava- Layered Sweet Pastry

Baklava is a rich sweet pastry, made with layers of thin sheets of pastry, filled with nuts and soaked in syrup.  It has been claimed by ethnic regions , some say it as Greek and some as Turkish....

   Wherever this sweet originated, this is just one amazing sweet.  Everytime when we buy a big box of baklavas, it disappears within a day.  Few times I failed in trying this baklava, however it's not a complete failure, I have to say a bit dry.  Still you can claim that as a type of baklava.  To me this one was perfect, completely soaked, perfectly cooked layers and the right amount of nuts.  If you are planning to make this sweet for your friends and family or any occasion , just make it a day ahead which will give enough time to soak in the syrup.  I made this last week , nothing has left now, still I'm dreaming about this delicious pastry.

Cranberry and Orange Cake: Sweet Punch for February 2011

 Our Sweet Punch for February  is by Divya of Easy Cooking.  The Actual recipe was Currant and Apple Slices.  I change both main ingredients, instead of currants I have used dried cranberries and  I replaced apples with orange.  Finally since I din't cut them into perfect slices I just named it as cake.  Whatever  the name is the cake was very light and fluffy and it tasted absolutely amazing. As always an amazing recipe by Sweet Punch.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serves 4

Ingredients:
Plain flour- 85 g
Sugar- 85 g
Butter- 85 g
Egg-1
Dried Cranberries- 75 g
Orange juice- 150 ml
Baking powder- 3/4 tsp
Cinnamon stick- 1/2 inch stick
Grated orange zest- 1/2 tsp

Method:
For orange juice I used some freshly squeezed orange juice, you can also use the shop bought .  Add the orange juice and cranberries to the pan, bring to boil, let it simmer for 2 minutes.  Take it off from heat, let it rest for whole night or more than 5 hours.
The next day drain the juice completely by passing through the sieve, press well to remove the juices from the fruit.  Keep the juice and fruit separately.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius.  Cream the butter and sugar in a large bowl.  Add the egg and beat well again.  Sift the flour and baking powder, also added the grated orange zest.  Mix well with a wooden spatula until it looks smooth.  Fold in half of the cranberries and 2 tbsp of juice and mix it well again.
Grease and line a 8 cm round cake tin,  pour the prepared batter and level the surface.  Sprinkle the remaining cranberries on top of the batter.  Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
 Meanwhile prepare the syrup by boiling the orange juice and cinnamon stick together in a pan. Boil it in medium heat until the liquid is reduced to half and looks syrupy.
Take the cake from the oven, cut it into slices, serve warm with the syrup.  I served the cake with the syrup, cream and peaches.  Without any patience I immediately sliced the cake, so the edges weren't that perfect.  Otherwise the cake tasted absolutely delicious.

This recipe goes to Ally's Delicious Desserts

Biscuit Joconde: Daring Baker's Challenge for January 2011

This month our challenge is given to us by Aesthroshe, she challenged us to make Biscuit Joconde, imprime/entremet. Imprime is a French baking term.  Joconde is nothing but a thin flexible cake made with different patterns.  This is used in desserts as a base or covering.  This flexible cake easily fits in the mould and it retains it's texture even after chilling.

   The moment I saw this as a challenge for this month in Daring Baker's forum, it was like a wow for me and I planned so much for  that.  Guess what !  I didn't make anything according to the plan.  I was actually planning for some nice filling like blackberry mousse, mango mousse, cheesecake, cold souffle etc...
  Since I left till the last moment, I mean very last minute, I made it only yesterday night.  So I ended up making in a simply chocolate mousse, topped with readymade custard mix and jelly.  The custard was bit wobbly and it was quite hard to hold it's shape in the mould I made.  However the joconde was absolutely amazing.  I have decided to make this for all my cold dessert as a base.  I have to say millions of thanks for Aesthroshe for this amazing recipe which she has given.

Preparation Time: For Joconde- 1 hrs
                            For Filling- 1 hr
Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
Joconde Sponge:
Ground Almond- 85 g
Cake flour- 25 g( for every 100 g of plain flour add 1 tbsp of cornflour)
Icing Sugar- 75 g
Eggs- 3
Egg white- 3
White granulate sugar- 1 tbsp
Butter- 30 g( melted)
Joconde decor paste:
Butter- 200 g softened
Cake flour- 170 g
Cocoa powder- 60 g
Icing Sugar- 200 g
Egg whites- 7
Filling:
Chocolate mousse:
Plain chocolate- 225 g
Butter- 30 g diced
Eggs- 3 separated
Sugar- 55g
Water- 4 tbsp
Double cream- 125 ml
Custard Topping:
Vanilla custard powder- 2 tbsp
Milk- 250 ml
Sugar- 2 tbsp
Jelly topping:
I used readymade halal jelly powder according to package instructions

Method:
Prepare the mousse:
Melt the chocolate and water in saucepan over low heat until it melts.  Remove from heat beat in the butter.  Add the egg yolks to the chocolate mixture and beat well.  Meanwhile beat the egg whites in a clean bowl until soft peaks form, slowly sprinkle the sugar little by little and continue beating until stiff peaks form.
In another bowl beat the cream until soft peaks form.
 Fold in the cream and egg white into the chocolate mixture little by little until well combined. Set aside the mousse separately.
Prepare the joconde sponge:
Beat the egg whites and  granulated sugar in aclean bowl until it looks firm and glossy. Set it aside.  Sift the flour, ground almonds, icing sugar in a large bowl.  Slowly start adding the eggs and beat it together. Fold in one third of the egg white into the flour mixture. Gently fold in the remaining egg white until well combined.  Finally fold in the melted butter. Keep this separately.
Prepare the patterned joconde paste:
Beat the butter and sugar until it looks light and fluffy.  Slowly add the egg white and continue beating until well combined.  Fold in the sifted flour and cocoa.
Prepare the pattern:
Spread a thin layer of the joconde  paste in a silicon mat.  Use a ruler to drawn inclined lines on it.  Place the silicon mat on a upside down baking sheet and slide it into the freezer. Let it sit in the freezer for approximately 15 minutes until it looks firm.

Preheat the oven to 250 degree Celsius.  Quickly pour the joconde sponge on top of the pattern.  Spread it evenly.  Bake it in the preheated oven for 15 minutes until springs back.
Take the sponge outside and immediately invert it over a sheet of baking paper sprinkled with icing sugar.
Prepare the moulds:
Take the moulds of your size and shape which you desire.  Grease the inside of the moulds with butter and line with cling film or baking parchment.  Baking parchment paper holds the filling well.
Cut a strip from the sponge such that it fits your mould.  Gently place it inside the mould and press it in the edges.
 Spoon the mousse layer inside the mould.  Then prepare the custard filling( according to your package instructions) and pour it on top of the mousse. Allow it to set.  then prepare the jelly according to package instructions and pour it on top to set.
 That's it you have your finished dessert, you can serve it with some fresh selection of fruits.


Sending this recipe to Ally's Delicious desserts

Chum Chum

Chum Chum the name itself makes me happy.  I don't know what exactly the meaning of the word is but it's traditional Bengali sweet.  Chum Chums are made with Indian Cottage Cheese( Paneer) which is cooked in sugar syrup .  This is something very similar to rasgullas, rasgullas are served with syrup  and this without syrup.  I know a typical Indian may not need these explanation for this well known popular sweet, I'm just saying these for those who doesn't know what is a chum chum.

   You can make these Chum Chum for any special occation, it can be made easily in minutes, that too if you want to make something in bulk, you can definitely go for this.  You can also make these as a special gift for your   better half instead of regular chocolate box.

  Any way this is a recipe which I adopted from  Manjula's Kitchen.  I have failed so many times making this rasgullas or rasmalai,  but Manjula's recipe was perfect the very first time I got this right.  Thank you Manjula for your clear instructions.
Also don't forget to check our bloggers in marathon  Priya Suresh,Jay, Gayathri, Monika, PJ, Priya Vaasu, Azeema, Reva,Veena, Usha , Srivalli; Soumya.

Ingredients:
Milk- 1 litre
Lemon juice- 2 tbsp mixed with 1 tbsp of water
Sugar- 2 cups
Water- 5 cups
Kalakand- 2 cups( Kalakand recipe here)
Few drops of food colouring
Coco powder- 1 tbsp
Dessicated coconut- 3 tbsp

Method:
Boil the milk and the add the lemon juice slowly.  You can see the curd separates from the water.  At this stage pour it in a clean muslin cloth and separate the curd from the water.  Squeeze the water gently, don't squueze too much, it will dry the paneer.  Place a heavy bottomed pan on top of the paneer for 1 hour.
After 1 hour take the paneer and pulse in a food processor until it forms a dough. If it doesn't come together add a few drops of water until it forms a dough.
  Take the dough and knead it again and roll it into small balls.  Boil the water and sugar together in a pressure cooker.  Add the balls leave enough space to spread.  Close the lid and cook in high until you steam on top, once you see steam on top, reduce the heat to medium and cook for further 7 minutes.  Switch off the flame and keep the pressure on cold tap water.  Let it sit for few minutes.  Then open the lid and see if the chum chum looks spongy and big in size.  Take it out from the water.
  Add  a few drops of food colouring to the dessicated coconut and coat the chum chum in it.
For kalakand coating, add few drops of food colouring or coco powder to the kalakand.  Grease your palms with ghee,  take a small size ball of kalakand,  flatten it.  Place a chum chum inside and cover with kalakand.
To make the flour shape and heart shape, I used a cookie cutter to cut those shapes. You can serve it just like this or coat the kalakand with dessicated coconut again. Chill the chum chum in the refrigerator for minimum 5 hours before you serve.

Chocolate Meringue Cake: Sweet Punch for January 2011

 
This month for Sweet Punch we were given three options with meringue
Meringue Cake: Joy Of  Baking
Meringue Mushrooms: Joy Of Baking
Chocolate Meringue Cake: Martha Stewart

   I chosed Chocolate Meringue Cake by Martha Stewart.  Seriously this is a killer cake. We always love this flour less mousse cake. Although we were not a big fan of meringue, the cake complemented well with  the meringue layer and it tasted absolutely amazing. Thank you Sweet Punch for this delicious punch as always.

Preparation Time: 25 minutes

Cooking Time: 50 minutes

Serves  6 to 8

Ingredients:

Cake:

Eggs- 6

Plain Chocolate- 200 g

Butter- 100 g

Brown Sugar- 75 g

Meringue:

Egg white- 4

Chocolate- 50 g chopped

Blanched almonds- 50 g chopped

Icing sugar- 60 g

Method:

Cake:

To make the cake, melt the chocolate and let it cool down for a while.  Cream the butter and sugar with a electric beater. Separate the eggs. Add the eggs yolks to the butter mixture and beat well. Slowly add the chocolate mixture and stir well. 

  Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold in 1 tbsp of egg white to the chocolate mixture, and the fold in the remaining little by little at a time.

Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Grease a 8 inch round cake tine. Pour the batter inside the pan and bake it for 25 minutes.

Prepare the meringue layer:

Beat the 4 whites until soft peaks form, slowly add the icing sugar and beat until it looks stiff.

Fold in the chopped chocolate and chopped almonds into it.

Spread the meringue layer on top of the cooked cake and cook for further 25 minutes.

Take it out from the oven, leave it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes.  Run a knife around the edges and remove from the tin. 

This recipe  goes to Suma's Baking event.

Dates and Almond Truffles for Winning Manjula's Cooking Contest

Hi everyone,
  I'm in immense pleasure to announce that I won the cooking contest in Manjula's Kitchen for the month of December. Taking part in events and recipe contest is really a fun activity for me, that too if I win the contest, I get over excited. Probably this is the first time I won a cooking contest,  I'm really happy about that on top of all critical comments for my recipe .
Anyway my Orange and Almond Sponge is the winner, thank you Manjula madam for selecting my recipe as the winning recipe.

    Dates and Almond Truffles

I have seen many form of this dates balls in many blogs. This recipe I followed from Cooking With Alia in youtube. A very simple recipe which is so easy to make and sugar free. You can watch the video from here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-KxJeAGx4o&feature=channel

Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Makes 20 balls

Ingredients:
Pitted dates- 1 cup
Blanched almonds- 3/4 cup
Honey- 1 tbsp
Ghee- 2 tsp
Cinnamon powder- 1 tsp
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Dessicated coconut- to roll the balls
Method:
Steam the dates in a steamer for 10 minutes. Mash it with a masher or fork while they are still warm. Roast the almonds for about 3 to 4 minutes. In a food processor combine all the ingredients except dessicated coconut and pulse it to smooth.
  Roll the mixture into small lemon size balls, then roll it in the dessicated coconut.

This recipe goes to Any One Can Cook, Heart and Soul  and Bookmarked recipes by Priya and Aipi.

Orange and Almond Sponge With Butterscotch sauce and Pistachio Praline

As I always say warm desserts are comforting for all weather, that too in this climate, when the temperature drops less than -10 degrees, you really look for something hot sizzling and spicy and after that a warm dessert may be. This is a kind of dessert which you can whip up in minutes, then sit back and relax with your family. Try using your creativity to vary this dessert with some fresh fruits or different. Whatever flavour or fruit you use, a steamed sponge is something always special.

Preparation Time: 15 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 to 25 minutes
Makes 4

Ingredients:
For the sponge:
Plain flour- 60 g / 2 oz
Butter- 50 g / 2 oz
Brown Sugar- 60 g/ 2 oz
Baking Powder- 1/2 tsp
Ground Almonds( without skin)- 40 g/ just less than 2 oz
Grated zest of orange- 1 tsp
Eggs- 2
Freshly squeezed orange juice- 3 tbsp

Butterscotch sauce:
Butter- 1/2 tbsp
Brown sugar- 2 tbsp
Cream- 75 ml
Honey- 1 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp

Pistachio Praline:
Pistachio without shell- 1 tbsp
Brown sugar- 2 tbsp
Lemon juice- 1 tsp

Method:
For the Sponge:
Melt the butter and keep it separately. Beat the eggs and sugar in a large bowl until it looks fluffy. Add the orange juice and zest, mix well. Sift the flour, baking powder and almonds into the egg mixture. Fold gently without any lumps. Finally fold the butter into the mixture.
  Grease 4 ramekins with butter and dust it with flour. Pour the mixture equally into the ramekins. Preheat the oven to 180 degree Celsius. Take a large tray, fill with boiling water and then place the ramekins inside that. Bake it in the preheated oven for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
Note:
The cooking time might vary according to the size of the dish you are using.

For Butterscotch sauce:
Heat together butter, sugar and honey in a heavy based pan in medium to low heat. Once everything is melted completely, heat it for 2 to 3 minutes stirring continuously. Take it off from heat, add the extract and cream little by little, stirring continuously.

For Pistachio Praline:
Heat the pistachio, sugar and lemon juice in a pan, stirring continuously. When it reaches a consistency of 1 string consistency, take it off from heat and pour it in a baking parchment paper. After it hardens, bash it with a rolling pin to crumble into pieces.
Note:
To check the one string consistency, wet your hands with cold water. Take a small amount of syrup between your two fingers, when you press and release, you should see a small thread between your two fingers.

To Serve:
Place the sponge in individual serving plates, pour the warm sauce on top. Finally top it up with pistachio praline.
To enjoy the real taste of this dessert, serve while they are still warm

Note:
 You can replace brown sugar with caster sugar for sponge.
For the butterscotch sauce, you can use caster sugar and brown sugar mixed.
For the praline also you can replace with caster sugar.

This recipe goes to Champa's Bake off and Suma's event which comes along with lovely giveaway.

Pear, Chocolate and Almond Crumble : Sweet Punch for December 2010

This month our challenge is to make Pear and Chocolate crumble. A hot bowl of soup and a warm dessert is something perfect to enjoy for this snowy winter. A very simple and easy to make which makes you feel satisfied. I always like to enjoy these warm dessert with some cold ice cream, you can also have with some custard. Thank you Sweet Punch team for this delicious punch.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes
Serves 2

Ingredients:
Pears- 2
Brown sugar- 2 tbsp
Lemon- juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon
Plain flour- 75 g
Blanched and toasted almonds- 1 tbsp
Butter- 30 g
Milk or plain chocolate- 50 g

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius.
Peel and chop the pears and mix it along with the juice and zest of lemon. Also add the brown sugar and mix well.
Mix the plain flour and butter with your finger tips until it resembles like a bread crumbs, then add  the sugar and chopped almonds and mix well.
Take two tea cups, add the pears and 2 to 3 pieces of chocolate in each cup. Top it with the crumble topping and add the another 2 to 3 pieces of chopped chocolate on top of it. Bake it in the preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes until it looks golden brown on top.
Serve warm with ice cream or custard.

Note:
You can also increase the measurement and use a large size bowl to make the crumble, in that case it might take longer time to cook.

Crostata Con La Crema or Custard Tart- Daring Bakers Challenge for November 2010

Hi Everyone,
  I'm back with my late submission for daring baker's challenge. Although I completed the challenge before I left Germany, I couldn't post it on time. So here I'm post it late after coming back from India.
  This month challenge is from Simona of briciole. She challenged us to make Crostata( tart) with her own recipe and use any filling of our choice. Crostata is a Italian dessert, it's basically a tart with fruit or cream filling.
For me the queen of all tarts would be the one and only custard tart, I never enjoyed any other tart so much as a custard tart. Simona also gave us a few ideas for the filling also, I used her pastry cream filling which was simply fabulous. Her pastry also worked very well, I consider this as the best of all the tarts I made so far. The pastry and the cream everything was just in the right consistency except that I break some edges of the tart. Thank you Simona for giving us this lovely challenge.

Preparation Time: 40 minutes
Cooking Time: 50 minutes+ cooling time
Serves 8

Ingredients:
For the pastry:
Wholemeal or plain flour- 235 g / 8 1/4 oz
Caster sugar- 75 g / 3 oz
Unsalted cold butter- 115 g / 4 oz
Vanilla extract- 1/2 tsp
1 large egg and a egg yolk
a pinch of salt

For the pastry cream:
Milk- 500 ml / 20 oz
Sugar- 65 g / 2 oz
Plain flour- 3 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
2 large eggs
Grated nutmeg- 1 tsp

Method:
Prepare the pastry:
Sift the flour and salt in a large bowl. whisk together the egg in a small bowl. Add the sugar to the flour mixture and mix well. Add the butter cut into cubes in the flour mixture and work with your hands gently until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Finally add the egg and bring the dough together. Flatten the dough, wrap it in a cling film and refrigerate for minimum of two hours or overnight.
Prepare the pastry cream:

Whisk together the egg and sugar until it resembles very pale and creamy. Add the flour to the egg mixture and whisk well until it gets incorporated. Heat the milk and extract in a pan until it reaches just under boiling point. Pour the milk little by little into the egg mixture and whisk well. Return the mixture to  the heat again and keep stirring well until it becomes thick custard. Pour the custard in a bowl and cover the top with cling film to avoid forming film on top. Allow the filling to cool completely, you can make it the previous day and store it in the refrigerator.
Assemble the tart:

Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius.
Take the dough out from the refrigerator, roll it out between two cling film or parchment paper. Gently place the rolled dough in a greased tart tin. Press the edges down. Prick with a fork all over the dough. Trim all the dough in the sides. Place a parchment paper on top of the dough and fill with baking beans. Blind bake for 5 minutes.
Allow it to cool completely. Pour the custard inside the tart case. I made few decorations using the remaining dough which is totally optional. Sprinkle the grated nutmeg on top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown on sides.
Let it cool down for a while and serve it into wedges.

Black Jaggery Kheer

 This is just like regular rice kheer or rice pudding, instead of normal sugar I have used Black Jaggery .  Jaggery  is an unrefined cane sugar. Jaggery is considered to retain it's mineral values than the refined sugar. It does not involve any chemical agents when processing. It's also known to treat throat infections.
  So Jaggery is considered as a healthier option to use for your sweets than your normal white sugar. For more information about jaggery click here.

Serves 4
Preparation Time: 10 minutes
Cooking Time:
Pressure cooker: 20 minutes
In normal pan: about 1 hour

Ingredients:
Raw rice- 1/2 cup
Whole milk or coconut milk- 2 cups
Jaggery- 3/4 cup( adjust according to your taste)
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Ghee- 1/2 tbsp
Cashew and raisins- about 10 to sprinkle on top
Method:
Using Pressure Cooker:
Powder the rice coarsely in a blender. Add the powdered rice and milk in a pressure cooker, cook up to 4 to 5 whistles. Add the jaggery in a pan and heat in low heat until the jaggery is completely melted. Add the cooked rice mixture to the melted jaggery and mix well in medium to low heat until it gets well incorporated.
Heat ghee in another pan, add the cashew and raisins, when it turns golden brown, add it to the kheer along with the cardamom powder and mix well.
Serve warm or cold.

In normal pan:
Use a heavy based pan if you are using a normal pan. Add the rice and milk, keep stirring in medium to low heat. Cover the pan, keep it in low heat and cook until the rice gets completely cooked and mashed up. Keep an eye so that the milk doesn't overflow.
Then melt the jaggery with 1 tbsp of water until it gets completely melted. Add the cooked rice mixture to the melted jaggery and mix well in medium to low heat until it gets well incorporated.

Heat ghee in another pan, add the cashew and raisins, when it turns golden brown, add it to the kheer along with the cardamom powder and mix well.

Serve warm or cold.

This recipe goes to Celebrate Sweets- Kheer hosted by me started by Nivedita and Complete My Thali- Sweets hosted by Authentic Vegetarian Recipes started by Joy Of Cooking

Walnut and Almond Kheer with Sheermal

I love to have kheer not only as a dessert but also simply slurp it up any time, that too if it's badam kheer. It just keeps going for me. I was planning to make walnut kheer, since I was short of walnuts, I mixed both walnuts and almonds.
I'm always a big fan of paal poori or Milk poori's. This sheermal and kheer is something very similar to that. Sheermal is a flat bread made with saffron flavours traditionally made in Iran, Pakistan and also in North of India. You can also make this bread similar to naan shapes and serve with kebabs or a bit small size to serve with kheer.


Walnut and Almond Kheer

Preparation Time: 45 minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
Walnuts- 50 g/ 2 oz
Almond- 75 g/ 3 oz
Brown or white sugar- 100 g/ 4 oz
Milk- 1/2 litre
Saffron- 1/2 tsp soaked in 1 tbsp of warm milk
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Method:
There are two methods in which you can do this kheer, either you can remove the almonds skin or just leave it . I prefer it with the skin.
Prepare the nuts:
Soak the almonds and walnuts in warm milk( just enough to immerse the nuts)  for 1 hour and grind it along with the milk.
If you prefer without skin, after soaking, boil them twice. Let it cool down for a while, then remove the skin.
Prepare the kheer:
Mix the ground mixture with milk, saffron and sugar. Bring to boil in a pan in medium to low heat. Keep stirring without burning at the bottom. Heat it and mix it up until it reaches a thick consistency. Finally sprinkle with cardamom powder.
Serve warm or cold. You can serve it by itself or with sheermal.

This recipe goes to Celebrate Sweets- Kheer hosted by me started by Nivedita.

Sheermal

Recipe adapted from Fauzia's Pakistani Recipes

Preparation Time: 30 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes+ rising time- 1 hour
Makes 20 mini sheermal

Ingredients:
Plain flour- 100 g/ 4 oz
Wholemeal flour- 100 g/ 4 oz
Sugar- 50 g/ 2 oz
Butter- 30 g/ 1 oz/ 1 tbsp
Warm milk- 75 ml / 3 oz
Dried yeast- 1 tsp
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Saffron- 1/2 tsp soaked in 1 tbsp of warm milk
Raisins / Sultanas - about 20
Method:
Prepare the dough: 
Mix the flour, sugar, salt and yeast in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre, add the melted butter and then add the milk little by little to make a smooth elastic dough. Place the dough in a clean, oiled bowl. Cover with a cling film and allow it to rise for about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Make the Sheermal:
Take the raised dough, punch the air back. Divide the dough into two equal rounds. Roll it out into a rectangle, cut it out into mini squares out of it. Prick with a fork in each square.
Preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Brush the Sheermals with saffron milk, press a sultana in the middle and bake it in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Take it out from the oven, allow it cool down in the cooling rack.
Serve the sheermals with kheer.

This recipe goes to Bookmarked recipes by Priya and Aipi, Champa's Bake- off event, Yeastspotting.

Blackberry Pudding : Eggless

If  you are looking  for some  pudding, which is very easy to make and without egg then you definitely have to go for agar agar or china grass. Agar agar is derived from a red algae. Agar means jelly in Malay( Malaysian language). This is something which is very popularly used in Asian countries for desserts. There are so many flavours you can introduce to this agar agar like coconut milk, different fruity flavours, chocolate, almonds and other nuts. You can also just make with water and sugar, pour it in different jelly mould to attract your kids.
To buy agar agar click here.

Cooking Time: 20 minutes
To set: Takes about 1 to 2 hours

Serves 4
Ingredients:
Agar agar- 2 tbsp of strands
Milk- 1/2 litre
Sugar- 4 tbsp( adjust according to your taste)
Pureed Blueberries or blackberries- 3 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
For the sauce:
Fresh Blueberries or blackberries- 100 g
Maple syrup- 2 tbsp

Method:
To puree the blueberries, take some fresh blueberries or blackberries, wash well and  puree it in a blender by adding little water and set it aside.
Then mix the agar agar and milk in a pan, bring to boil in a medium heat. Keep stirring continously so that it doesn't burn at the bottom.
When the agar agar looks completely dissolved in the milk, add the sugar and stir well. When the sugar gets dissolved, add the extract and switch it off from flame. Let it cool down for a while about 10 minutes.
Then add the pureed blackberries and mix well. Pour the mixture in a individual serving dish and let it set down or pour it in a big square dish, let it set and cut it into squares.
To make the sauce:
Add the fresh blueberries and maple syrup in a pan, heat it in a medium to low heat. Stir every now and then, once the fruit looks softened and mashed take it off from heat.
Just before serving, pour the sauce on top of the pudding and serve.
This recipe goes to Healing Foods : Agar Agar hosted by Kitchen Samraj started by Siri's corner.To my own event Any One Can Cook , Only Festive event hosted by Khaugiri started by Pari, CFK : Festive Food hosted by Veggie Platter started by Sharmi.