Paal Paniyaram for Bonjour

This post is exclusively for bonjour series by Jabeen's Corner.  By this time most of us should be familiar with Jabeen's Bonjour series.  I feel very happy to be part of this great series.

Coconut Ladoo / Coconut Truffles

Every since I made the bounty candies  with coconut filling for Daring Baker's, all my dreams were full of this sweet coconut filling.  So I decided to make this coconut truffles with plenty of coconut to satisfy my cravings for coconut.

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.

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.

Strawberry Pizza

Well this is not a brand new idea of using fruits in pizza or making a sweet version of pizza.  You might have come across so many sweet pizzas in online or television , may be cook books.  There are so many sweet version of pizzas like using chocolate, fruits and cheese, coconut, dry fruits etc.....

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.

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.

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

Mango Appam( Steamed Mango Rice Cake)

I tried this from Kothiyavunu blog with a few changes. The very first time when I saw in her blog, I knew I'm definitely going to try this and I did nearly two weeks back which is been sitting in my drafts for a long time. It's actually called  Vattayappam, which I came across in a few blogs before. Every time when I looked at this recipe it tempted me a lot to try, I really wanted to try the exact same version but somehow I  the mango puree sitting in my store cupboard tempted me a lot too add it to this appam.
  Vattayappam is traditional Kerala  dish, a soft spongy steamed rice cake. You can make this as savoury and serve with curries or make it as sweet by adding sugar.
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 40 minutes + Fermenting Time
Cooking Time: 35 to 40 minutes

Ingredients:
Raw rice- 2 cups
Mango Puree- 4 tbsp
Cooked Rice- 1/2 cup
Grated Coconut- 1/2 cup
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Sugar- 3/4 cup
Bicarbonate of soda- 1/2 tsp
Salt- 1 tsp
Ghee- 2 tsp
Almonds- 10 to 15
Method:
Prepare the batter:
Soak the rice in water for 4 to 5 hours. Drain the water , grind it along with coconut, cooked rice and mango puree until you get a smooth batter. Add the sugar and salt, grind again. Pour the batter in a vessel, cover it. Allow it to ferment 1 whole night.
Make the appam:
The next day, just before making your appam, add the soda by mixing it in 1 tbsp of water. Mix it well. Grease a stainless steel bowl with little ghee. Mix the batter with some water if it's too thick. Pour it in the bowl, sprinkle with cardamom powder.
Steam it in a steamer or pressure cooker for 30 minutes. To check if it's cooked, insert a skewer and if it comes out clean, then the appams are cooked. Garnish with crushed nuts.
Serve warm or cold, either way it's good.

Go Nuts For Doughnuts- Daring Bakers Challenge For October 2010

  


This is my successful third month with Daring Bakers. I never expected I would be able to complete three challenges with Daring Bakers. I know there are some brilliant bakers who have been baking with Daring Bakers for years completing so many delicious challenges but for me three itself makes happy ( Alhamdulillah). 

 This month our challenge is by Lori of  Butter Me Up.  She challenged us to make doughnuts. A person with sweet tooth will definitely go nut for doughnuts. We were given two options one with yeast and the other one is old fashioned buttermilk doughnuts. Since I had everything available for yeast doughnuts, I went for the yeast option. We were also given other options to change the flavour and shape of the doughnuts. I just used the traditional one , I dint go for any additional flavours or  shape. Actually I dint have the regular doughnut cutters, so I used a glass for the bigger round and and small cap of the bottle for the small round.

 Since doughnuts are my favourite which I always enjoy from a bakery, these freshly home made doughnuts are simply irresistible. There is something really special when it's fresh and homemade...


Ingredients:
Dough:
White bread flour- 400 g /  16 oz
Wholemeal flour- 250 g / 10 oz
Dried yeast- 14 g/ 6 tsp
Warm water- 80 ml/ 1/3 cup
Milk- 300 ml/ 1.5 cup
Eggs- 2
Sugar- 50 g/ 2 oz
Salt- 1/2 tsp
Butter- 70 g/ 3 oz
Nutmeg- 1/2 tsp grated
For the icing:
For the vanilla glaze:
Icing sugar- 250 g/ 10 oz
Warm water- 1 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
Pink colouring- a pinch
Sugar sprinkles( optional)
For the chocolate glaze:
Plain chocolate- 50 g / 2 oz
Butter- 1/2 tbsp
Icing Sugar- 150 g / 6 oz
For sugar doughnuts:
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Cinnamon powder- 1 tsp( optional)

Oil for deep frying

Method:
Prepare the dough:
Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the sugar, yeast and salt mix well. Heat the milk, add the butter to the warm milk and mix well until the butter  gets completely melted. Add the eggs to the flour mixture, add the warm water and milk mixture. Beat with the electric beater fixed with dough hook until you get a smooth dough.
 Place the dough in a clean oiled bowl and cover with a cling film allow it to rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Prepare the doughnuts:
Once the dough has risen knock the air back. Divide the dough into two equal halves. Roll out the dough into 9mm thickness. Cut the doughnuts using a doughnut cutter. I used a glass and small cap of bottle to cut the circles.

 Place the doughnuts in a tray, cover loosely with a cling film and allow it to rise for another 30 minutes or until it looks puffed up.
 Heat the oil in a skillet or whichever pan you use for deep frying would be good. Drop the doughnuts one by one and deep fry it until reaches a golden brown in colour.

Prepare the glaze:
For the glaze:

Vanilla glaze
Sift the icing sugar in a bowl, add the extract and hot water, mix well. Pour the glaze on top of the doughnuts, or dip the doughnuts in icing.
For colouring, add a drop of colouring to the icing.
Use any sprinkles of your choice.
Chocolate Glaze:
Melt the chocolate and butter in a bowl sitting on top of pan of simmering water. Stir until the chocolate and butter gets completely melted.
Remove the bowl from water. Add the sifted icing sugar and mix well without any lumps. Dip the doughnuts in the icing and sprinkle with sugar sprinkles or chocolate or chopped nuts.
For Sugar Doughnuts:

Mix the sugar and cinnamon powder together. Roll the doughnuts in cinnamon sugar.


Have fun in making the doughnuts and enjoy the doughnuts.

If you are interested in Daring bakers and want to join click here.

This recipe goes to 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.

Beet Rava Ladoo

Rava Ladoo must be a all time favourite and easy to make sweet. This wonderfully delicious sweet can be made without any fuss in less time and less technique involved. As we all are familiar about this delicious sweet rava ladoo, I have just made a small variation by adding some beetroot. The colour of the beetroot not only makes you feel more festive, the flavour of the beetroot definitely adds up taste.
If you have doubts about adding beetroot, you can totally skip that part and make plain rava ladoos.
Makes about 15 ladoos
Ingredients:
Semolina- 150 g
Sugar- 50 g
Honey- 3 tbsp
Fresh Grated coconut- 1 tbsp
Beetroot- 1 small sized ( very finely grated)
Ghee- 3 tbsp
Milk- 25 ml( warm)
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Cashew nuts- 15 whole nuts
Method:
Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a nonstick pan, add the cashew nuts and fry for few minutes until they brown. Take it out and keep it aside. Then add the grated coconuts and fry until they become brown. Take it out and keep it aside. Then add 1/2 tbsp of ghee and add the finely grated beetroot and fry till all the water evaporates from the beetroot. Take it out and set it aside.
Finally add 1 tbsp of ghee, add the semolina and roast till it releases a nice aroma. Take it out and mix all the ingredients in a bowl, add the sugar, honey , cardamom powder along with it and mix well. Now add the warm milk little by little and gather with your hands, if you are able to make balls, stop adding milk. Then start making small balls, place in a serving plate and press a cashew nut on top.
These sweets are best to have within 5 days by storing it in a air tight container.

This recipe goes to Celebrate Sweets- Ladoo hosted by Nithu Bala, started by Nivedita, Dish Name starts with B by Akila, Only Festive Event hosted by Khaugiri, started by Pari. 
Also sending this to my own event Any One can Cook: Series 2, since it's made in very less time.

Coconut Tart

Say it Caribbean, Indian or British, this light Coconut Tart is a nice way to finish of your meal leaving your sweet tooth feel satisfied.

Serves 8
Ingredients:
For the pastry:
Plain Flour- 150 g
Cream Cheese- 60 g
Butter- 60 g
Icing Sugar- 1 tbsp
Ice cold water- 1 tbsp( if necessary)
For the filling:
Eggs- 2
Grated rind and juice of 2 lemons- 2
Agave syrup- 4 tbsp ( If you couldn't find agave syrup replace it with 150 g of sugar)
Double cream- 150 ml
Dessicated coconut- 250 g
Cardamom powder- 1 tsp
Method:
For the pastry:
Sift the flour in a large bowl, add the softened butter and cheese, work with with your hand to combine the flour, butter and cheese evenly. Then add the icing sugar and mix well, the dough should come together at this stage, if it still looks crumbly add  about a tabelspoon of cold water and combine the dough. Wrap the dough in a cling film and chill in the refrigerator for minimum of 2 hours.
After 2 hours take out the pastry and roll it out between 2 sheets of baking paper.
Preheat the oven to 200 degree celsius. Grease a 8 inch tart tin. Carefully slide the rolled pastry into the tart tin leaving in the sides hanging, press down the edges.Prick the pastry with a fork , carefully so that you don't make big holes. Bake it in the preheated oven for 10 minutes. Take it out and then let it cool down.
For the filling:
To make the filling, place the eggs, ring, syrup or sugar, cardamom powder in a bowl and beat together for 1 minute. Gently stir in the cream, then lemon juice and finally the coconut.
Spoon the filling into the pastry. Reduce the oven temperature to 160 degree celsius. Bake the tart for 40 minutes or until set and golden brown in colour. Cool for 1 hour to firm up and serve at room temperature.

This recipe goes to Champa's Bake- Off event, Healthnut Challenge 7 : Tropical Temptations.

Arabic Desserts: Ataif bil ashta and Muhallebi

Ataif bil ashta and Muhallebi are Arabic desserts popular in Gulf countries. First we'll see the recipe for Ataif bil ashta and then to Muhallebi. I got these both desserts from Arabic Bites. Ataif bil ashta is something which I want to try for a long time, when I first saw in Arabic bites it was presented in a very attractive way, after that I came across this recipe in few other sites and also in You Tube.

  Ataif bil ashta is nothing but yeasted pancakes filled ashta and topped with nuts. Ashta is creamy filling made with milk, cornstarch and qaimar( Iraqi cream). I couldn't find this qaimar, the actual recipe suggested thick cream as the replacement for qaimar but I replaced it with ricotta  cheese which indeed tasted very good.
Makes about 20
Ingredients:
For the pancake:
Flour- 2 cups
Warm Water- 1 1/2 cups
Milk- 1 cup
Dried yeast- 3/ 4 tsp
Salt -1 tsp
Sugar- 2 tsp
For the ashta:
Milk- 1 cup
Sugar- 1 tbsp
Cornflour- 2 tsp mixed in 1 tbsp of milk
Ricotta cheese- 1 tbsp
Rosewater-1 tsp
For the topping
2 tbsp of finely chopped pistachios
To serve:
Sugar syrup, honey or maple syrup.
Method:
First prepare the ashta, mix all the ingredients in a pan, heat it in a medium to low heat. Keep stirring without burning at the bottom of the pan. The mixture will turn thick after sometime, now add the rosewater and  take it off from heat and allow it to cool completely.
Now for the pancake, mix all the pancake ingredients together in a bowl without any lumps. Cover the bowl with a cling film and let it rest for 1 hour or doubled in size.
Once the mixture is raised, heat a non stick pan, pour laddle full of batter in the pan and cook it in medium to low heat. Do not turn the pancakes. When you can see all holes on the top, and looks dry in the top, take it of from the pan, repeat with the remaining mixture.
Now fold the pancakes into half, then press the sides and seal the edges till halfway. Now it looks like a pocket in the middle.
Fill the ashta in a piping bag and pipe it into the pancake pockets. Finally dip it in the crushed pistachios and drizzle with syrup or honey.
Serve this with some Arabic tea.

Muhallebi
Muhallebi is again a Arabic dessert inspired from Arabic Bites. Muhallebi is a milk pudding made with qaimar( Iraqi cream), milk and eggs. I skipped the egg and qaimar, instead I used ricotta cheese.
 I made it almost same like ashta but adding a bit more sugar.

Serves 3 to 4
Ingredients:
Milk- 1 cup
Cornflour- 2 tsp mixed in 1 tbsp of milk
Ricotta cheese- 2 tbsp
Sugar- 1/2 cup
Rosewater- 1 tsp
Mixed crushed nuts to sprinkle on top
Method:
Combine all the ingredients in a pan leaving nuts and rosewater. Heat it in  a medium heat and stir constantly, when the mixture turns thick, add the rosewater and take it of from heat. Pour it in individual serving dish, sprinkle with nuts. Leave it to cool down completely  and allow it sit in the refrigerator for minimum 2 hours before serving.
This would be quite creamy in texture, to get a pudding texture, add 1 egg yolk when you are mixing all the ingredients and follow the same procedure.

These two desserts goes to AWED- Saudi Arabia hosted by Niloufer originally started by DK of Chef in you, Bookmarked Recipes-Every Tuesday by Priya Mitharwal and to the event Heart n Soul.
Also sending it to Tempt My Tummy Tuesday.

Malai Ladoo

Just like a peda preparations but mould in the shape of ladoos and rolled in dessicated coconut or crushed nuts, easy to make in bulk for parties or for celebration.

Makes about 20 small ladoos.
Ingredients:
Paneer- 1 cup
Sweetened Condensed Milk- 1 cup
Cardamom Powder- 1/2 tsp
Crushed nuts or dessicated coconut-just enough to roll the sweets
Method:
Mix the paneer and condensed milk in heavy bottomed pan. Heat the pan in a medium heat and stir continuously without burning at the bottom. At first it will become runny and liquid, as you keep stirring, it will thicken and leave the sides of the pan. At this stage add the cardamom powder and mix well. Take it of from heat, let it cool down, then take a small lime size balls , roll between your palms, then roll it in crushed nuts or dessicated coconut. Repeat with remaining mixture and serve.
This recipe goes to Nithu's Celebrate Sweets- Ladoo originally started by Nivedita.

Ramadhan Mubarak

Ramadhan Mubarak

   Ramadhan Mubarak to muslims all over the world.
"Ramadhan is the (month)  in which the Quran was sent down , as a guide to the mankind and a clear guidance and judgement( so that mankind will distinguish from the right and wrong)."TMQ( 2:185)


Allah' s Messenger ( peace be upon him) said: Whenever you sight the new moon( of the month of Ramadhan) observe fast, and when you sight it( the new moon of Shawwal) break it, and if the sky is cloudy for you, then observe fast for thirty days.( muslim)
Allah's Apostle said, " When the month of Ramadhan starts, the gates of heaven are opened and gates of hell are close and the devils are chained."( Bukhari)
Narrated by Abu Huraira(r.a): The Prophet said:" ..... whoever fasts during the month of  Ramadhan out of sincere faith and hoping to attain Allah's rewards, then all his past sins will be forgiven."( Bukhari)
The Messenger of Allah ( peace be upon him) addressed his companions on the last day of Shaban, saying," Oh people! A great month has come over you; a blessed month; a month in which a night better than thousand months; month in which Allah has made it compulsory upon you to fast by day, and voluntary to pray by night.  Whoever draws nearer( to Allah) by performing any of the (optional) good deeds  in this month shall receive the same reward as performing an obigatory deed at any other time, and whoever discharges an obligatory deed in this month shall receive the reward of performing seventy obligations at any other time. It is the month of patience and the reward of patience is heaven. It is the month of charity , and a month in which  a beleiver's sustenance is increased. Whoever gives food to a fasting person to break his fast, shall have his sins forgiven, and he will be saved from the Fire of Hell, and he shall have the same reward  as the fasting person, without his reward being diminished at all." ( Narrated by Ibn Khuzaymah).


Ramadhan is the month in which Allah(swt) covers you with his blessings, sends down  Mercy, decreases sins and answers prayers. So show Allah( swt) the goodness from yourselves, for the unfortunate one is he who is deprived in (this month) of the mercy of Allah.
"Fasting is the shield  with which a servant protects himself from the Fire" ( Ahmad)
On the Day Of Judgement, " Fasting will say: O My Lord I prevented him from food and desires so accept my intercession for him." ( Ahmad, al- Haakim, Hasan).


When I step into the month of Ramadhan every year I feel that I have got one more year to seek forgiveness and praise Allah. This is another blessed month of Ramadhan for us to Praise Allah( swt).
 Ramadhan Mubarak to Muslims all over the world.

White Chocolate Cheese Cake

In our family we are not big fan of cheesecake, but still I wanted to try something on my own. After all my hesitation I decided to make this for a very small portion, surprisingly it was a big hit in our family and now I'll start exploring various cheesecakes with different flavours.

  This is no bake cheesecake and doesn't need much time to set, i can also say this as a bit low fat too. This is best when you have a sudden unplanned party. Layers of buttery biscuit crumbs mixed with cream and chocolate  is just melt in your mouth. Perfect way to finish off a meal.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Wholewheat digestive biscuits or marie biscuits or any plain biscuits- 12
White Chocolate- 200 g
Low fat cream cheese- 200 g
Low fat creme frische- 100 g
Dark Chocolate- 100 g
Melted Butter- 3 tbsp
Vanilla extract- 1 tsp
Few wafer biscuits and fresh fruits to serve
Method:
I have used here the chef's ring to make a mini cheesecake version, you can also use a 18 cm loose bottom cake tin.
Put the biscuits in a plastic bag, cover it and break the biscuits roughly with a rolling pan. Put the biscuit crumbs in a large bowl and add the melted to coat all the biscuits. Press the biscuits inside the tin, cover it allow it to refrigerate for 1 hour.
Beat together the cream cheese, creme frische and vanilla extract in a large bowl with  a bubble whisk. Melt the white chocolate in a microwave or in a bowl sitting over a pan of simmering water. When the chocolate is completely melted, take it off from heat and allow it cool down.
One important thing while melting the chocolate, you have to keep stirring continuously.
Add the cooled and melted chocolate to the cheese mixture and stir well. Spoon the cheese mixture over the biscuit base and level the surface. At this stage you can cover it and let it sit in the fridge till your guest arrive.
Just before serving melt the dark chocolate and pour it on top of the cheese mixture.
I just made a mistake , after adding the melted chocolate on top, I just left it to sit in the fridge, so it hardened and when you try to remove the mould, the top surface breaks. To avoid this breakage, pour the chocolate at the end before serving.
Serve the cheesecake with some fresh fruits and wafers.

These mini melt in the mouth goes to Sara's Monthly mingle- Party treat originally started by Meeta  and  to
the cold desserts by Torview.

Mini Mango Custard Tart With Almond Pastry

These mini mango flavoured custard tart  made with delicate almond and cream cheese pastry makes a very light tea time snack.

Makes 12 mini tarts.
Ingredients:
For the  pastry:
Plain flour- 100 g
Cream cheese- 40 g
Butter- 40 g
Ground Almonds with skin- 1 tbsp
Icing Sugar- 20 g
Cold water- 1 tbsp
For the filling:
Mango- 1/2 a mango pureed
Cream frische- 150 ml
Egg- 1
Custard powder- 1 tbsp
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Grated Nutmeg- 1/2 tsp
Agave syrup- 2 tbsp or Sugar- 50 g
Method:
Sift the flour, icing sugar in a large bowl. Add the ground almonds and mix well. Add the cream cheese and beat knead together to make a soft dough. If the dough doesn't come together add 1 tbsp of cold water. Wrap the dough in a cling film and chill for minimum of 1 hour.
For the filling, whisk together egg, custard powder, cardamom powder and agave syrup in a bowl. Heat the cream frische in a pan just under boiling point, even if it looks like curdling don't worry immediately pour the cream frische in the egg mixture and whisk siftly. Return the mixture to the pan again and heat it in medium to low heat whisking continuously. When the mixture turns thick, switch off from heat and let it cool down.
Preheat the oven to 180 degree celsius.  Grease a bun tin. Roll out the dough between two sheets of baking  paper, cut out round discs to fit your bun tin. Place the disc inside the tin, pressing down the sides. Fill it with the custard filling, sprinkle the nutmeg on top. Bake it with preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes or until the custard is set. Allow it to cool in the wire rack.
These custard tart are best when it's served on the day made.
This recipe goes to Versatile Kitchen Bake-Off event.

On The Occasion Of My 200th post: Two Surprise

Dear Bloggers,
 This is my 200th post, on the occasion of my 200th post i would like to share my happiness with you all.
My first surprise is i have won a giveaway from CSN stores hosted by Snacksgiving. I was so excited when i saw this message, this is the first giveaway which i got after started blogging. Thank you to CSN stores and Snacksgiving. The giveaway is for 60 euros, i haven't got anything yet. After buying something, i'll blog about it:-)
  Next coming to my second surprise, this is more important, not only receiving  a gift makes you happy, giving a gift to someone else also makes you happy.
  Since Iftar Moments is my first event and it's regarding ramadhan, i don't want to leave the event without any giveaway. So i have planned to give a gift to one lucky winner who will be selected randomly. All you have to do is just keep posting your recipes for the event. Non Bloggers are also included in this giveaway, so without any hesitation post me your recipes with picture of your recipe to my e-mail ayeesha.riaz@googlemail.com.
  Also i would like to give once again a small reminder about the event. The main theme of the event is to create a 30 day menu for Iftar . Iftar in the sense not just the food which you have for breaking the fast, i want to create a menu for that whole i.e, the dinner after also. So you can send me starters, soups, rice, roti's and naan, curries, desserts...etc.. Archived recipes are also allowed. To check more details about the event click here.
Giveaway is open to all bloggers and nonbloggers from any part of the world.

To celebrate this joyful moment i made my grandma's halwa. The addition of blackjaggery makes this sweet a very unique one.
Black Jaggery Halwa: ( Dhodal)

                                       Just For You :-)
Ingredients:
Black jaggery- 1 cup( powdered)
Thick Coconut milk- 11/2 cups
Rice flour- 2 tbsp
Ghee- 3 tbsp
Cardamom powder- 1/2 tsp
Few cashewnuts and dessicated coconut to sprinkle on top
Method:
Melt the black jaggery in a saucepan with 2 tbsp of water, until it goes runny. Take it off from heat and seive the liquid to avoid any sand particles. In a large wide, nonstick pan, mix together the black jaggery liquid, coconut milk, rice flour and extra 1 cup of water. Heat the pan in medium to low heat, keep stirring without any lump formation. As you keep stirring, the halwa will thicken and leave the sides of the pan, at this stage add cardamom powder and ghee little by little. Keep stirring until the ghee is completely absorbed by the halwa. At this stage take off from heat and pour it on a greased plate and level the surface. Sprinkle some cashews and dessicated coconut on top. Cut it into squares and serve.

This recipe goes to my own event Iftar Moments: Hijri 1431 and to Nivedita's Celebrate Sweets- Halwa
This recipe also goes to Vegetarian Foodie Fridays

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