Rasgulla Stuffed with Pistachio Burfi Coated with Chocolate Sauce and Served with Vanilla Ice Cream

Keep up with TV’s hottest trends with an Invention Test like no other!

Plate up a chocolate-dusted ball flanked by chocolate-beetroot “soil” and watch your snooty critics’ eyes pop with surprise as they cut the chocolate-coated ball…

…to discover a soft Rasgulla nestling luscious pistachio burfi at its core!

I’ve given traditional Indian mithai a futuristic avatar with this truly Masterchef-worthy recipe!

Prep Time: 20 min         Cooking Time: 25 min 

Ingredients:
6 -8 rasgullas
8 scoop vanilla ice cream
150gm dark chocolate
150gm milk chocolate
Chocolate sauce

Pistachio burfi (fudge):
(Refer to the Pistachio Burfi Post – Pistachio Burfi (Fudge))

Chocolate sauce:

Ingredients for the Chocolate Sauce

5 tbsp cocoa powder
50 gm butter
1 tea cup milk
3 tbsp sugar
50 gm dark chocolate
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Method: 

1. Mix everything and cook until its melts into a sauce

How to proceed:

1. Take 1 rasgulla cut it from the middle
2. Put one ball of pistachio burfi (and join it)
3. Repeat with other rasgullas
4. Take the rasgulla on a fork and pour chocolate sauce on it to completely cover it with chocolate
5. Place it on a butter paper to dry
6. Serve it with vanilla ice cream and garnish it with chocolate sauce and shavings

Moong Dal Halwa

Every time you think of making the Moong Dal Halwa you wish there was an easier way rather than the long drawn out process. You need not look any further, after a lot of experimenting I have finally figured out a recipe that makes your life easy without compromising the taste.

Prep Time: 10 min     Cooking Time: 25 min

Ingredients:

1/2 tea cup moong dal (yellow)
1/2 tea cup sugar
1/2 tea cup + 1 tbsp ghee
1 tea cup milk
1 /4 tea cup water
1/4 tsp cardamom powder
Few strands of Saffron mix with 1 tbsp of milk
Almond and raisin for garnishing

Method:

1. Grind the dry moong dal roughly, don’t make smooth powder
2. Heat the ghee in a vessel, add moong dal and sauté until fragrant
3. Add water & milk and mix it well
4. Prepare the pressure cooker, put the dal vessel in it and cook it for 2 whistles
5. Remove the dal mixture from the cooker, add the sugar and mix well (At this time If you feel halwa is dry you can add 1/4 tea cup of extra milk)
6. Cook again for 2 whistles
7. Remove from the cooker and microwave it for 2 minutes or until the ghee releases
8. Add saffron and cardamom powder
9. Garnish it with almond and raisin

Pistachio Burfi (Fudge)

The mouth watering pista burfi !!!

Prep Time: 10 min         Cooking Time: 10 min 

Ingredients:

1/2 tea cup pistachio
3 1/2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp water
1/8 tbsp of cardamom powder
1 tsp of ghee

Method:

1. Boil the pistachio and remove the peel
2. Grind it
3. Boil some water and sugar to make a syrup of two string consistency
4. Add the pistachio and stir over medium heat for 2-3 minute
5. Add the ghee and mix well
6. Spread on a greased plate
7. Cut out square pieces once it has cooled down

Peas and Pistachio Burfi

This 15^th Aug, join in the revelry by giving a patriotic flavor to your plate!
My naturally tri-coloured recipes promise to give your family and friends the true taste of freedom…from any artificial food colouring!

This I-Day, dish up festive food with a twist!

Mash up fresh green peas with emerald pistachios and fragrant elaichi for an exquisite tiranga ‘green’ that’ll truly symbolize the flag’s promise of lavish prosperity!

Prep Time: 15 min       Cooking Time: 25 min 

Ingredients:

2 tea cup milk
1 tea cup mutter (Peas)
25 pistachio
4 tbsp sugar
10 raisins
2 tbsp ghee
2 tbsp milk powder
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

Method:

1. Boil the peas for 5 minutes. Put it under cold water. Drain it and make a paste
2. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee, add the peas and sauté it for a while and keep it aside
3. Add the milk powder to it and mix well
4. Boil the milk until it is reduced to half the quantity,  add the peas, sugar, raisin and pistachio and go on stirring till all the liquid evaporates
5. Add cardamom powder and mix well
6. Spread it on a greased plate
7. Cut it in equal parts or make a ball once it has cooled down
8. Garnish it with pistachio

Sweet Boondi

This particular recipe holds a very special place in my heart.

Even today, it transports me back to being a young girl anxiously watching my Mother make these mouth-watering little yellow besan pearls in aromatic saffron-infused sugar syrup, coated with cardamom, pistachios, almonds and raisins!

Tasty Tip: Serve with chilled rabdi!

Prep Time: 10 min         Cooking Time: 30 min 

Ingredients

For the Boondi:
1 tea cup Bengal gram flour( besan flour )
3/4 tea cup water
Pinch of turmeric
Pinch of soda
Ghee for frying

For the Sugar Syrup:
1 tea cup sugar
1/2 tsp of saffron + 2tsp of water

For the Garnish:
10 almond ( slivers)
10 pistachio ( slivers)
2 tbsp raisin
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

For the Syrup

1. Add approx 1 tea cup of water to sugar and cook it in a heavy bottom pan on a high flame till the sugar dissolves and the syrup becomes little sticky. (The syrup should not make any threads if you want to make soft boondi)
2. For crispy boondi the sugar syrup needs to be of 1 thread consistency
3. Dissolve the saffron in water and warm it and add to syrup

For the Boondi:

1. Mix the besan in a little more than 1/2 tea cup of water and mix well. The batter should be of pourable consistency without any lumps
2. Add a pinch of soda and turmeric
3. Heat the ghee in a pan and pour 1/4 tea cup of the batter at a time over a large round perforated spoon, so that boondi drops in the ghee
4. Deep-fry the boondi over a medium flame and remove using a slotted spoon and put them in the warm sugar syrup and mix well
5. Garnish it with almond, pistachio , raisin and cardamom

Note:

1. Perforated spoon specially for making boondi is available in market
2. You can serve boondi with rabdi also. You can serve it chilled or baked

Shrikhand

This traditional favourite, transforms ordinary curd into oodles of rich elaichi, kesar and badam-pista laden swirls!

Teamed with piping hot puris, this chilled dessert is nothing less than pure ambrosia in each bite!

Prep Time: 2 hrs          Cooking time: 15 min        Serves: 4 

Ingredients:

Curd of 1 litre milk  (approx.) 2 teacup (hung)
Powdered sugar (approx.) 3/4 tea cup
5 cardamom (powdered)
6 pistachio (sliced)
6 almond (sliced)
1/4 tsp of saffron + tbsp of milk

Method for the hung curd:

1. Tie the curd in a muslin cloth, and keep in cool place for 2 hours.
2. Before using, ensure that the water is completely drained out 

Method for the Shrikhand:

1. Sieve the hung curd with a juice strainer
2. Measure it, and add half as much quantity of sugar of curd (sugar, curd in the ratio of 1:2) 
3. Mix well
4. Mix the saffron with milk and heat for a second 
5. Garnish shrikhand with saffron, cardamom, pistachio and almonds
   

Inventive Gastronomy – IV

A delicately dainty dessert that looks so trendy, your guests won’t be able to resist posing with it
Set the fudgey base with saffron-infused fresh coconut and generous rich dry-fruits, followed by creamy vanilla ice-cream and a heady pistachio drizzle.
To increase it’s photographic appeal, present in fun shot glasses and set the trend!

Coconut Fudge with Vanilla Ice-cream and sticky Pistachio Coulis:
 

Prep Time: 10 min     Cooking Time: 25 min          Makes: 8 – 10 glasses

Ingredients:  

For the Coconut Fudge
3/4 tea cup fresh coconut
1/4 tea cup cashews
1/4 tea cup almonds
1/4 tea cup sugar
11/2 tea cup milk
1 tbsp ghee
1/2 tbsp raisins
1/2 tsp cardamom powder

For the Pistachio Coulis (sauce)
2 tbsp pistachio (roughly ground)
11/2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp water

Vanilla ice cream

Method:

1. Mix the coconut, milk and sugar and put it for boiling
2. Boil until the coconut becomes soft and liquid reduces to half the quantity by stirring occasionally and scraping the side of the pan
3. Add cashewnuts, almonds & saffron and heat until the mixture becomes thick
4. Add half tablespoon of ghee
5. Heat the ghee and add raisins sauté it for few seconds add it to coconut mixture
6. Add cardamom powder

For the Pistachio Sauce

1. Mix water and sugar and boil it
2. Add  pistachio and heat it for minute

How to Proceed:

1. Fill half a shot glass with the fudge, top it off with a spoon of vanilla ice cream and garnish with the pistachio sauce

Note: Only the fudge can be served as an indian sweet

Navratri Treats – Day 3

Sabudana Kheer

Prep time: 5 min   Cooking time: 15 min   Serves : 2

Ingredients: 
1/2 cup sabudana (soaked for 2 hours)
1/2 cup water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of saffron mixed with 1 tbsp of milk
For the Garnish
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
almond and pistachio slices

Method:

1. take 1/4 cup of sabudanas and grind them in a mixer with some water
2. take the mixture and add the remaining sabudanas along with half a cup of water and boil it for few minutes while stirring constantly to avoid lumping
3. add the milk and sugar and stir well
4. add the saffron to the mixture and garnish it

Something Sweet

If you have unexpected guests, you can easily impress them with this handy yet traditional dessert that only takes 15 minutes to prepare!
This special Indian recipe was taught to me by my Mother-in-law and I make it especially when I have the older generation or children over.

My grand-daughter loves it and now, her little friends ask for it too.
Fragrant with cardamom (elaichi) and saffron, I like to garnish this golden sheera with crunchy almonds.

Besan Halwa

Prep Time: 5 min   Cooking time: 15 min   Serves: 8 

Ingredients:
1 tea cup besan (gram flour)
1 tea cup ghee
1 tea cup sugar
1 1/2 tea cup milk (warm)
1/4 tbsp saffron with 1 tbsp milk
6 to 8 green cardamom powder
6 almond sliced

 Method:

1. heat the ghee in a heavy based sauce pan
2. add the flour and roast it till there is a fine aroma
3. add the sugar and milk and stir it till it starts to release ghee (can also microwave it for 2 min) 
4. add the saffron and mix well
5. garnish it with cardamom powder and the sliced almonds

Note: Cover the bowl with a lid while microwaving