Remember that I mentioned about the first post I wanted to do in 2025 in this chicken biriyani post? Well, it was meant to be this Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa. After a long break, I wanted to start off with something sweet, but nothing went my way, Ramadan came in quickly and I ended up doing the biriyani post. I had started that post by writing down where I had been over the past few months – starting from quitting work in September last year after hardly working for 10 months (hmm… I really don’t want to dwell around it… :D), to then planning a ladies only Umrah trip with two friends of mine in November, which was absolutely amazing SubhanAllah. It went way better than we had expected. After that, we undertook a drive to Qatar during the National Day holidays in December, just me, my bestie and my two girls. After doing Salalah in 2023 July, the Qatar trip was a cakewalk – a drive with no hiccups and a very relaxing trip. The capital of Qatar, even though magnificent, has this very slow pace that we absolutely loved.

Then end of December, I had to go home to attend two weddings on HD’s side. I couldn’t take the girls along because of their school schedules. HD joined in later in January for the second wedding, so I had a good 26 days of lots of eating, running around, dressing up and generally just smiling. Then, with the blink of an eye, Ramadan came and went. It was just too fast, so did Eid vanish. Last week, we went on a family Umrah trip, that I was really yearning for and Alhamdulillah, I am so grateful to the Almighty for making it happen in the most beautiful way. It is a part of my beautiful memories that I will cherish for life. I am so looking forward to the rest of the year, and sincerely hoping to make it one of the best years in many ways, Bi’iznillah…

After getting the Nutripot, the first dish I cooked was the kichadi, and thankfully it turned out well. So then my next plan was to try my favorite dessert Gajar ka Halwa – just that on the blog, the chicken biriyani came running to take the first place. I am not a fan of raw carrots but I love it in my umma’s cake version and as halwa. I have already shared many versions including this pressure cooker version, which is my favorite way of cooking it. Instant Pot is a glamourized pressure cooker with buttons on it and with absolutely no noise. Each time I cook something, I am constantly looking into it to see if it is actually working. As an Indian who owns so many pressure cookers, I have to train my brain that pressure cooking can be a silent process.

OK, so coming back to the halwa, I was just noticing that in my first post, Rasha had grated the carrots and she was tiny. This time as well, she repeated the process. She never says no to peeling and grating carrots, I am not sure if it is out of liking the activity or having no energy to say “no”. Hehe… The Instant Pot works just like a pressure cooker, so first we put it “Sauté” setup and then pressure cook on high, before we sauté the halwa again till it dries up. I kept the timer for the pressure cooker at five minutes and natural release to overcook the carrots literally, but if you don’t want that, you can keep it for 3 or 4 minutes and let the pressure go as soon as it is done. Sauté till the halwa dries up and it is ready to be enjoyed. As much as I love this halwa, the only issue is that it literally shrinks to half once cooked and makes us feel that there is hardly anything to eat. Hehe… Off to the recipe…

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Instant Pot Gajar Ka Halwa | Carrot Halwa

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 1 hour hour

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 750 gm carrots red ones is best
• 2 cups full fat milk
• 1/2 can condensed milk
• 1/4 cup milk powder
• A pinch of salt
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 1-2 tbsp ghee
• Handful nuts and raisins

Instructions

• Peel the carrot and grate them either manually or with a processor.
• Switch on the Instant Pot, put on Saute mode.
• Add the ghee. Once it heats, fry the nuts briefly.
• Add in the carrots and saute for 5 minutes, tossing it gently.
• Once the carrots change color, add in the remaining ingredients, give it a good mix.
• Switch off the Saute mode and switch on Pressure Cook mode. Close the lid, make sure the pressure lid is close and set the timer to 5 minutes.
• Once the pot is done, leave the pressure to go on its own.
• Once pressure is gone, open the lid, switch on the Saute mode and cook the halwa till the liquid is gone. Make sure to keep sauteing in order to avoid sticking to the bottom.
• Switch off and enjoy - hot or cold.

Notes

If you want a more crunchy halwa, then cook on high pressure for 2 minutes, and keep the pressure for five minutes. Then release the pressure, saute till the halwa is dried. 

The post Instant Pot Gajar Halwa | Carrot Halwa appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Since I mention a lot of life developments on my blog, then I guess I have one that I would want to share. Last weekend, we bought in a little kitten. Azza and HD have been behind me since a very long time to get one in but I wasn’t really ready for the same. Finally I gave in, because I feel like I have been telling a no way too many times. My friend was looking for homes for the kittens of her house cats, and I volunteered to pick one. It has been three days in the house and it has been a total different experience having a pet in. I come from a family where we have never had pets nor have we been encouraged to have any. We already have a parrot, Mimmi but she is least interested in any human interaction, to say the least! This is the third Mimmi we have – one flew away when HD opened the cage by mistake and we never found it, the other was given away. We are now wondering whether to give Mimmi away to a house, where she may be a little more at ease.

We named the kitten Ube and realized it is a “she”. HD is a little disappointed that he has a house full of females. Though I am trying to not get close to her, she keeps coming behind and sticking to me. It may take me time to come around it and get used to it. There are still a lot to be arranged, like getting her to sleep somewhere in the house, which is a big problem as far as I am concerned. Moreover, it is said that our Prophet (SAW) loved cats and had a favorite too. I am hoping I will be fine with it and it will stay on as a member of our household, InShaAllah…

We are in the month of Dhul Hijjah and Eid-ul-Adha is very much round the corner. Usually, the excitement that comes along with Eid-ul-Fitr is not seen with this Eid. Still, it is one of the two big festivals we have in our religion, and hence we need to celebrate it as well as we can. This Eid is celebrated to commemorate our father Ibrahim (AS)’s and his son’s Ismail (AS)’s immense trust and belief in the Qadr of Allah. Last year, we celebrated Eid in the US and it was really nice. Before 2020, we celebrated a few back home. This time, we have no plans to travel and hoping that the summers will be a bit calm and allow us to enjoy a little bit of the outdoors before we cocoon ourselves at home to face the harsh months coming up. While trying to post a dessert recipe during the Eid-ul-Fitr, the Rasmalai Milk Cake won as a clear favorite over this dessert I am posting today and hence waited for its chance to appear on the blog.

Shahi Tukda is a royal bread pudding, dating back to the Nizami era in Hyderabad. A bread base is prepared by frying in ghee and dunking it in sugar syrup, before drenching it in a thick sweet milk mixture. All I am doing her is using mildly sweet rusks instead of the bread and hence cutting down on the deep frying. I skipped the sugar syrup part by dunking the rusks in the milk and then pouring the rich milk mixture to settle in before serving. It is in fact a cheat Shahi Tukda without too much hard work. I find it a lovely dessert to make if you are bound to have guests for lunch on the Eid day. It sticks to being traditional, yet has a little modern take to it too. What are your plans this Eid? I don’t have much plans – I am planning to make some Sheer Kurma for distribution because I had planned to do it during the last Eid and couldn’t, have lunch along with my brother and family, and then basically chill. It feels good to have someone from the family around during such times, Alhamdulillah…

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Rusk Shahi Tukda | Easy Shahi Tukda

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 14 pcs rusk I used cardamom rusk
• Ghee for greasing pan
• 1/2 cup milk or more, for dunking
• 1/2 cup toasted mixed nuts crushed, for topping

FOR MILK SAUCE

• 3 cups milk
• 1 can evaporated milk 370 ml
• 1 can condensed milk adjust to sweetness
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• A fat pinch of saffron crushed

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease a baking dish with ghee.
• Dunk the rusks into the milk and line the tray as fairly as you can.
• Whisk together the ingredients for the sauce and bring it to heat. Switch off and pour all over the layered rusk.
• You will see the rusk will start to float above. Using a spatula, press down the rusk to keep it in its position. Just allow the rusk to soak a little of the liquid and stay down.
• Sprinkle the nuts over it and bake for 20 minutes.
• Serve hot or cold, as per liking.

Notes

You can drop a little ghee over the top before baking for an extra dollop of richness.

The dessert tastes better when warm. 

The post Rusk Shahi Tukda | Easy Shahi Tukda appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

So this month as well, I am doing two weeks for the Blogging Marathon #132, knowing fairly well that I will be taking a break from the BM for the next two months, one month because of Ramadan and the other because I am not good at cooking that spontaneously when pressed with time. I better know my weaknesses and play accordingly, isn’t it? Hehe… I am doing the theme “Healthy Snacks” this week and while scheduling my posts, I realized that I had put all sweet dishes in line. So much so for my blog name…

The first snack I chose is a favorite with my kids since a very long time. If there is something that hasn’t changed among their favorites, then it is andiputt. These Malabar style bliss balls are made with roasted matta rice, lots of cashew nuts and coconut. Jaggery is used as the  sweetener. My earliest memories go back to seeing the fresh cashew nuts being roasted on open fire outside till nicely done, then smashed to get those pearl like delicious stuff inside. Those cashew nuts would go into make these sweet balls, giving them a beautiful charred flavor. Clearly, since now that process hardly happens, you get refined tasting balls. Hehe…

The main time taken is to roast the rice. I have used matta rice like I have seen my mattamma and umma using. After washing and draining the rice to get rid of its water, roast it on a hot pan as much as possible, till you keep hearing popping sounds and the rice releases a beautiful aroma. I can’t specify how much time it would take, but it can easily take around 30 to 45 minutes and needs constant stirring to ensure equal popping. The time to stop roasting is when the popping ceases. While you allow the rice to cool, you can roast the cashew nuts, melt your jaggery and keep the grated coconut ready. Once everything is ready, the rest of the process happens in tandem and you get deliciousness that can’t be described.

There are a few factors that determine how the snack turns out. If you use more jaggery, you may have softer balls. The color of the jaggery also determines how dark or light it is. It is not necessary to use all cashews to make them. There are times we take a mix of equal quantities of peanuts and cashew-nuts. Cardamom is used to flavor the balls. Since the coconut is usually used direct, there are chances of it getting rancid as time passes. However, I lightly roast the coconut just till it is less moist, so that the balls stay fresh for longer. I prefer storing them in an airtight container inside the fridge till they are done, which doesn’t take too long, considering my girls love to have them whenever they feel like. I think I have covered all the points here… Hehe… Off to the recipe…

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Andi Putt | Ari Unda ~ Malabar Cashewnut Rice Balls

Course Tea Snacks

Cuisine Malabar

Prep Time 1 hour hour

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Servings 6

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups matta rice
• 1 cup grated coconut
• 450 gm jaggery melted in 1/4 cup water
• 1 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 cups cashewnuts refer notes

Instructions

• Wash the rice well till water is clear. Allow it to drip excess water in a colander.
• In a hot pan, add the drained rice and roast on medium flame, stirring constantly. You will start hearing pop sounds. Keep tossing till the pop sound ceases. This process can take around half an hour to 45 minutes.
• Once the rice has popped completely and it smells roasted, switch off and transfer to a flat dry tray. Allow to cool completely.
• In the same pan, roast the coconut just till the moisture in gone. Empty into another wide pan.
• Roast the cashewnuts as well till just done and switch off.
• Melt the jaggery, strain the mixture and keep it warm.
• Once cool, grind the rice as smooth as you can. Coarse bits are fine. Drop into the same pan as the coconut.
• Now grind the cashewnuts till coarse. Do not overgrind to avoid it from becoming butter. Add into the rice mixture.
• Add the cardamom and give the whole powder a good mix.
• Now pour the melted jaggery in batches while mixing the powders and use up the whole till all the mixture is moist.
• Start making them in to small rounds as soon as possible. They will be soft when done at first, but as they sit, they harden up slightly.
• Enjoy them with a cup of sulaimani.

Notes

You can use a mix of cashew nuts and peanuts to make this.

You can even increase the nuts to upto 3 cups to make it more nuttier. 

Makes around 12-20 balls dependent on size. 

The post Andi Putt | Ari Unda ~ Malabar Cashewnut Rice Balls appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

It has been tough to get back to posting on the blog more frequently. My parents finally reached back on Tuesday and the home has been extremely empty since then. I haven’t been sitting at home and escaping to the Expo 2020 site three times in these past few days, even though the site is a really long drive from home. By the way, have you been to the Expo 2020? When it had begun and B insisted I pick seasonal passes, I wasn’t really convinced about it, but now after almost 10 visits, I can say that I am totally loving the experience of exploring different countries with different cultures, multitude of environmental challenges and likes. It feels like we hardly know much about the world apart from the handful of countries that we have been to or interacted with… The experience is humbling, to say the least…

Having said that, life is yet to go back to feeling normal. The girls still have online classes, and I am simply not able to get back into my mind-frame of wanting to get done with my things. Maybe I am simply stifling myself, and thinking too much… I am just hoping I can get back to my learning and more blogging as days go ahead… InShaAllah…

Today I am sharing a very soul comforting dessert, at least for me. I love a good kesari, not necessarily drenched in a lot of ghee or too sweet, just the way I make it. I can eat a whole bowl in one sitting. Hehe… I have also made it previously with pineapple and mango, and if you ask me to choose my favorite, I don’t want to catch sides. I once had these ripe bananas in my pantry and I didn’t want to bake anything. It got me thinking if I could make some dessert with it. Since semolina is an ever present ingredient at home, I thought why not make some kesari with it? I must say, I was pleasantly surprised with how delightful it turned out to be…

The banana is diced in small pieces before adding, so when you dig into it, you get a little melted effect from those banana bites. I added milk to make this kesari a little more rich, as most of the time, kesari is made in water. All I added was cardamom for flavor, and it just allowed the banana to shine in this really simple dessert. As usual, my girls didn’t eat much except for a spoonful, since it was too “banana-ey”, just like they said when they had the banana pudding or the banoffee pie. That means I got to eat the whole batch and just share a part with HD. Off to this simple recipe…

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Banana Sheera/ Kesari | Banana Semolina Halwa

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 2-4 tbsp ghee
• 1 cup semolina
• 2 ripe bananas chopped into small peices
• 10-15 chopped cashews
• 1 1/2 cup full fat milk hot
• 1 cup water hot
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of crushed saffron optional

Instructions

• In a wide saucepan, heat the ghee. Roast the semolina just till golden brown.
• Add the chopped bananas and cashews and toss well.
• Now add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
• Keep on low flame and stir occasionally till the water is completely absorbed and the semolina is cooked.
• Switch off and serve hot.

Notes

Add ghee as per your liking. The more, the better it would taste.
Make sure that the milk and water are hot before adding into the roasted semolina, to ensure proper cooking. 

The post Banana Sheera/ Kesari | Banana Semolina Halwa appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

While working on my posts for the Blogging Marathon #122 theme of “Sweets with Fruits or Vegetables”, after making one with banana and another one with chickoo, I obviously wanted to make something with a vegetable. Even though vegetables are not known to be a part of dessert usually, we all love our gajar ka halwa or chukandar halwa. One of our favorites were these potato jamuns that didn’t even show any trace of the potatoes. I have also tried making halwa with zucchini and it was so delicious, that it used to be a part of my diet plan as well, not mentioning about the moist bakes that vegetable can give, just like this chocolate one.

But I have been wanting to try making lauki ka halwa since time immemorial. I always have lauki in my fridge because my girls love this side and it appears on our lunch table at least once a week. When this theme was declared, I kept aside a peice so that I could make the halwa. Before making it, one night, I ordered a meal from a Pakistani restaurant through Zomato and included this halwa from their menu. What came in a small bowl was the creamiest dessert I have ever eaten. I am usually someone who finds fault with desserts from out, but this lauki halwa was amazing. It was really creamy with strips of lauki and plump sago balls studded through the dessert. I used that halwa as a benchmark for myself to make this dessert.

I wouldn’t say that my pudding turned out like how I had eaten it but it was delicious in its own way. The bottlegourd is first grated and squeezed on any additonal water. I used my food processor to grate the lauki. I sauteed it up in ghee for some minutes before adding the milk and condensed milk along with the sago and cooking it till th sago is all plumped up and the milk thickens. I have added only cardamom and rose water for flavor but next time, I would love to add some kewra essence and/or saffron too, even though I had both in my pantry. Doesn’t it happen that the head gives ideas a long time later?

Just like most of the desserts, it thickens as it sits, so make sure to leave enough liquid in your kheer. I actually wanted to add some cream at the end of the whole process, but didn’t want to add any extra calories. Unlike me, if you are in a mood to add, then go ahead and do so. Off to this super simple recipe…

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Lauki Kheer ~ Bottlegourd Pudding

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Author Rafeeda AR

Ingredients

• 2 cups grated bottle gourd
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 500 ml milk
• 1/4 cup condensed milk
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 3 tbsp sago seeds
• 1 tsp rosewater
• Crushed nuts for garnish

Instructions

• Squeeze out the excess water from the bottlegourd if it is watery.
• Soak the sago seeds in boiling water for 15 minutes.
• Heat ghee in a thick bottomed pan. Saute the grated bottlegourd till it looks crisp.
• Add the milk and condensed milk along with the cardamom and salt and bring to boil.
• Drain the sago and add into the mixture. Cook on low flame, stirring occassionally and scraping the sides.
• Switch off once the mixture is thickened and the sago is transparent.
• Add the rosewater and nuts as needed and enjoy warm or cold.

Notes

Sago seeds is optional but gives a good body to the pudding.

You can add flavorings of your choice. Saffron is a good choice to add, so is kewra essence.

To make the kheer richer, you may add a small pack of cream before switching off and mix it in.  

The post Lauki Kheer ~ Bottlegourd Pudding appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

I must say that I am quite happy to get back to regular blogging. In fact, this whole month was already scheduled and I have been very religiously sticking to the dates without making too much adjustments. This was something that had been lacking since the past few months now. It is not that I am in a good mood to be spending time on the blog, but somehow typing on the blog has been serving as a good “stress-buster”, instead of being a “stress-booster” like it was becoming sometime back! I hope I can keep up this pace, without necessarily burning myself out – that is the most important thing to do these days…

This paneer zucchini halwa is something that I have been making ever since I have started being on a macro diet. When you count your calories and eat, it becomes difficult to adjust in sweets, just because they are a galore house of calories and would require huge adjustments to your proper food. Hehe… That is when such low calorie sweets come into play. I saw this recipe on a group, where the person had used lauki. I am not a big fan of lauki, so replaced the same with zucchini. Since zucchini doesn’t have a taste of its own, it simply adds some moistness and sucks in all the sweetness of the stevia and the flavors that you give in. The paneer adds the chewy dimension and becomes the good protein and fat in this dessert. Anytime I pick up a couple of zucchinis, I make sure I make this halwa. I had mentioned about this halwa in this post, and now finally it is making its appearance on the blog. The halwa may not look photogenic, but it does tick all the right boxes, especially if you are trying to lose all that weight that the Covid lockdown must have added onto you. Off to the recipe…

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Paneer Zucchini Halwa | Fusion Dessert

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 250 gm zucchini
• 100 gm paneer thawed
• 1 tsp ghee
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 50 ml milk or cream
• 2 tsp stevia as per sweetness
• 1 tsp rosewater

Instructions

• Peel and grate the zucchini. Squeeze to remove excess water.
• Crumble the thawed paneer and keep aside.
• Heat ghee in a saucepan. Sizzle the cardamom powder.
• Add the zucchini and saute for five minutes or till raw smell disappears.
• Add the paneer and the milk or cream. Cook till the mixture comes off the pan.
• Add the stevia and the rosewater, give a mix and switch off.
• This can be either enjoyed warm or cold, as per choice.

The post Paneer Zucchini Halwa appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Sometimes I open a blog post and stare at the screen for a long time, wondering how exactly I should start the post. Of late, I feel very blank. One thing that the current situation has taught is that life is never as per our plan. If it was, the girls would have travelled home on the 30th, just like they had travelled for the past couple of years. They were really excited about going home for the summers. When my parents were here in December last year, they were around only for a couple of weeks and the girls weren’t really happy about it. But then, who thought that the virus would derail plans for a long period of time?

Things have become more relaxed here now – almost all public places have opened up, masjids are also open now Alhamdulillah and there is no applicable curfew. But that doesn’t come with complete freedom. Masks are mandatory till the near future. More than three people are not allowed in a vehicle, unless it is family. Gatherings and events are still out of question. Proper social distancing is to be maintained. We have only been going out for drives, or walks in lone corners around our vicinity. It feels very stressful to move out with the kids otherwise. I hope this situation eases out soon, though looking at the numbers, even though not alarming, is still steady and hasn’t shown a decline yet…

Maybe we can end that talk and come back to something sweet… It took me ages to make this iconic Indian sugar soaked dumplings called Gulab Jamuns. In fact, I had no courage to try it out. This is Azza’s favorite dessert and she can eat five to six at one sitting. Rarely, she eats anything like that! Hehe… This reminds me that Vineetha had posted this sweet as her guest post – can you believe this was done in 2014? Feels like just yesterday! When I had invited her to be my guest, the first question she asked was, “Do you have Gulab Jamun on your blog?” When I said a negative, she said, “You have so many recipes already on the blog, that’s why I asked!” This is one comment I have got from a lot of bloggers when I invite them for a guest post. Somehow I know that my blog misses a lot of recipe posts, that maybe considered normal for others, but I feel intimidated, just like this one. Hehe… It feels funny that I tried the bread jamuns and aloo jamuns before the actual deal…

Gulab Jamuns are usually made with milk solids called ‘khoya’ or ‘mawa’, but due to its difficult availability, milk powder has taken over as its suitable substitute. Even though the dough and the frying may not take time, the soaking in sugar syrup needs a lot of patience. The more it sits, the more soft and sugary it becomes inside. Another matter is to ensure not to over-knead the dough, otherwise the jamuns may become harder. You just knead to play it with very soft hands till you have a smooth dough with no cracks. My jamuns had rested only for an hour so it hadn’t soaked the syrup well. But the ones that we ate at night after almost 8 hours resting were literally melt-in-mouth. Yes, sometimes we run to catch the sunlight that we can’t wait for the food to get done properly. *Dilemma of a food blogger* hehe… Off to this super simple recipe…

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Gulab Jamun {Using Milk Powder}

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 4 -6

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk powder
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp semolina
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ghee
• Milk as needed
• FOR SUGAR SYRUP:
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 strands of saffron crushed
• 1 tsp rosewater

Instructions

• First prepare the sugar syrup. Add the sugar and water, along with the cardamom and saffron in a saucepan and bring it to boil, swirling in between just for the sugar to mix and melt.
• Boil for around 10 minutes on low flame till the syrup appears thickened. Add the rosewater and switch off. Keep the syrup warm.
• Sift the dry ingredients for the gulab jamun into a bowl. Add the ghee. Add 2 tbsp of milk and slowly bring the dough together. Work softly with your hands to bring the dough together. Add an additional tbsp of milk if necessary, but usually it won't be required.
• Once the dough comes together, give it a light knead. Do not press hard, work softly. Only knead till the dough looks smooth.
• Divide into small dumplings, around 10-15. Keep it small so that it cooks well inside as well. The rounds must be smooth with no lines or cracks.
• Meanwhile, heat oil. Let it get really hot. To test, drop a little of the dough, if it rises, then it is hot.
• Drop the dumplings - do not crowd the pan - and fry till golden brown. Lower the heat and cook for another couple of minutes. This will ensure that the inside is done.
• Drain onto a kitchen towel for a couple of minutes and then dunk into the warm syrup.
• Repeat till all the dumplings are done.
• Let the gulab jamuns soak in the syrup for at least two hours, or even more if possible.
• Serve as is, or with a dollop of ice cream if desired!

The post Gulab Jamun {Using Milk Powder} appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

The heart seems so much at peace when it sees that the climate is changing finally! We had a really hot September and October was also not showing much respite, making us wonder if we would have the “beach and barbeque” climate all the UAE residents look forward to. Finally, the last week showed a slight change in the scales. There were rains in some interior parts of the country and that surely affected the temperatures. Early mornings are cozy and the times after sunset are just apt for those long walks. Afternoons are still hot at times but hopefully soon they will become more comfortable. This means that it is nice to do some baking and hogging, and more cups of tea and coffee…

With the wave of healthy eating all over, it becomes difficult to sometimes control ourselves from not having sweets at all. After having made a change in my eating habits early last year, I did make my indulgences limited to once a month but off late, it had gone a little awry and now I am slowly reigning it back. Gajar Ka Halwa is surely once of my favorite Indian desserts, but then enjoying them with all the extra richness is usually not recommended all the time. Hehe… That is when I discovered a way of making it without compromising much on our desires. The reason I use “desire” is because it is surely not as rich, but serves the purpose. It is amazing how without all the milk or cream in it, you can still have a dessert that tastes amazing. I had saved it up to have a little everyday, but then it got over in no time since the whole family liked it. Off to the recipe…

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Low Calorie Gajar Halwa | Carrot Sweet

Course Sweet

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 25 minutes minutes

Total Time 35 minutes minutes

Servings 3 -4

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp ghee
• 750 gm Delhi carrots peeled and shredded
• 1/4 cup water
• A pinch of salt
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• 2 tbsp milk
• 1 tbsp stevia
• 1 tbsp rose water

Instructions

• Heat ghee in a saucepan. Add the carrots and saute till wilted. Add the water and salt and continue to cook till the carrots break down and become well done.
• Add the remaining ingredients except the rose water and cook till dry. Add the rosewater and switch off.
• Serve warm or cold, as per liking!

If you are in no mood to make any “diet style” Gajar Halwa, then here are the other recipes already on the blog, that will make sure to feed you the calories…

Gajar Ka Halwa in my usual style and in pressure cooker

Gajar Ka Halwa with condensed milk

Tarka Gajar Ka Halwa

Quick fix in the microwave

If you need a little different, then Gajrela…

The post Low Calorie Gajar Halwa | Carrot Sweet appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

It’s been ages since I have worked on a 3B2B series for the blog. Somehow, my drafts have been dwindling and I haven’t been getting three posts that would fit into a theme, so I had thought to give the series a rest. But this month, because of the heat wave, I ended up making two back to back frozen desserts and one was staring back on me from my drafts, so bingo! I had three posts ready to be give a little life to that series. As you may have guessed, you will get to see three back to back ice-creams or frozen desserts, whatever you would like to call it, to beat the blazing summers!

Last month, B traveled home for a few days and he came back with a whole lot of luggage, including mangoes and jack fruit. I am sad to declare that the jack-fruit had to be thrown… It got spoiled before it could even ripen! *where is the cry emoji?* The weather was very unpredictable and it ended up partly spoiling the mango batch I received too. We would just cut up the spoiled portions and eat the rest just to finish it off. That was the time I decided to save up some of the batch to make these delicious Kulfis. Plus it would also put my kulfi molds into use. My colleague had got it for me from Mumbai on my request and I allowed it to hatch in my pantry for almost two years!

Usually Kulfis involve cooking down the milk till it becomes thick, like I have done in my attempt at making Kesar Pista Kulfis – which are in fact awesomely delicious! I also have an Easy Kulfi, which is a little more easier to make. But this recipe is even more simple. All you need to do is to blitz all the ingredients, pour into molds and allow it to set. Can it get any simple? I had seen this method in a video online and just decided to try it out with these mangoes.

The recipe is as easy as grind and freeze. There is no beating of whipping cream or anything to do with it. The nuts give the richness to the kulfi and the cardamom and saffron gives it a lovely spicy kick. I just hoped the mangoes I used were smooth. They were the fibrous type, so you can see from the pictures that the kulfis weren’t smooth. But these mangoes were so sweet that I didn’t even have to add much condensed milk for sweetness. Rasha really enjoyed the kulfis but Azza kept complaining about the “hair” in it. All the 10 that I had frozen was finished off in 2 days, including myself. I enjoyed one kulfi by giving up my fruit, almonds and milk for the day. Hehe… what all adjustments we make for a diet! Off to this super simple recipe…

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Instant Mango Kulfi

Course Sweets

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours

Total Time 3 hours hours 5 minutes minutes

Servings 10

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 1 packed cup mango slices
• 2 heaped tbsp pistachio kernels
• 2 heaped tbsp cashew nuts
• 1/4 tsp cardamom powder
• A fat pinch of saffron
• 175 ml tin evaporate milk
• 1/2 tin condensed milk as per required sweetness
• 150 ml cream

Instructions

• In a blender, grind the mango, nuts, cardamom and saffron. Add the rest of the ingredients and blitz till smooth.
• Pour into kulfi molds or popsicles - I poured them into 6 kulfi molds and 5 popsicles - and freeze for two to three hours till frozen.
• For serving, keep out for five minutes, push out of the mold and enjoy!

The post Instant Mango Kulfi appeared first on The Big Sweet Tooth.

Taking my time to do challenges is really helping me breathe well and choose what I want to do on the blog. I am really enjoying the phase, to say the least. With life getting tougher by the day, we need to adjust our priorities and while I still keep my blog close to my heart, I am going really slow and loving the process. This month, after a couple of months break, I got back into Recipe Swap which is now hosted by Mir. In this challenge, we are assigned a blog, which we dig into and choose a recipe that we would love to cook.

This month, I was assigned Usha’s blog, which is one of my favorite discoveries after being in the Blogging Marathon. I love her neat, crisp pictures and her simple recipes. Just like her blog name, she features a lot of savory and spicy Indian food, so you can decide on your meals as soon as possible. Hehe… I actually searched her blog with an agenda on mind. I had this packet of dessicated coconut that was expiring and I had to use it up. Though my heart went out to wanting to try this Steamed Egg Curry and this Healthy Baked Chocolate Oats – which both I am going to try for sure, InShaAllah – I finalized on making these laddoos since they were perfect for my task on hand.

If you notice, I have very little recipes for Indian sweets on the blog, so this was a perfect addition to it. I was actually jittery while trying it. Somehow, laddoo recipes scare me since most of the recipes involve boiling sugar till one string consistency and I really don’t know how to work that around! But this didn’t have that scary step to be done and felt easy. Actually speaking, the recipe was quite straight forward too. The laddoos taste very similar to our Thari Unda.

I did some little tweaks to the recipe. I added a little extra of the coconut since I love the flavor and I was sure it would still be fine. As advised by her, I reduced the sugar, so it turned out to be just like how we like it. I used up more milk since I had added the extra coconut to bind the laddoo. I did have a little difficulty trying to roll them into balls when they were still hot and my shapes were very uneven. But whatever said and done, the laddoo did not last beyond two days. As usual, my girls didn’t touch it and I wasn’t expecting them to. But HD and B enjoyed their portions and I basically binged on the leftovers – yeah, literally spoiling my diet! Off to the recipe…

The plate I used in these pictures has an interesting back ground. Two year ago, when we traveled home during our vacation, I literally ate HD’s head for a visit to the local pooja store to pick up some of these props. I still can’t forget the look of the store person when he saw a lady in abaya entering the shop… hehe… And I am using it now, after hiding it all this time, hmm…

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Dry Coconut Rava Laddoo

Course Sweets

Cuisine Indian

Prep Time 5 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Total Time 50 minutes minutes

Servings 6 -8

Author Rafeeda

Ingredients

• 5 tbsp ghee
• 8-10 cashew nuts crushed
• 2 tbsp raisins
• 1 cup dessicated coconut
• 1 cup semolina
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp cardamom powder
• 6-8 tbsp warm milk

Instructions

• Take a heavy bottom saucepan and put on flame. Heat a tablespoon of ghee and fry the cashenuts and raisins briefly. Drain and set aside.
• Add another tablespoon of ghee and add the dessicated coconut. Saute till the coconut is fried and golden brown in shade. Add into the drained nuts mix.
• Heat the next tablespoon of ghee and saute the semolina. Fry for at least ten minutes, constantly stirring to ensure it roasts well and doesn't taste raw.
• Now add back the coconut mix, add sugar and cardamom powder and mix well. Cook on low flame for five minutes or till the sugar is completely melted. Switch off and empty into a flat tray.
• When the mixture is hot enough to handle, add a tablespoon of milk at a time and bring it together. I used around 8 tbsp milk. Shape into small balls and roll.
• Allow it to set to room temperature. It hardens as it sets. I made around 12 laddoos.
• Store in an air tight container and consume within a week.

Please check out the other Recipe Swap Recipes!

• Carrot & Zucchini Noodle Salad
• Coconut Rava Ladoo
• Ghee Rice
• Honey Toasted Sesame Paneer
• Pesto Pasta Chaat
• Gujarati Root Vegetable Stir Fry
• Apple Date Chutney
• Blackberry Lime Cupcakes
• Spicy Mint Quinoa
• Jeera Rice
• Easy Chicken Wraps
• Bengali Dum Aloo
• Andhra Tomato Pickle
• Gulab Jamun Cupcakes

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