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Indulge your sweet tooth

Timeless Indian desserts never go out of vogue. Here's how you can whip them up in a jiffy

TEMPTING TREATS (Clockwise) Rasmalai, Khubani Ka Meetha, Phirni and Gulab Jamun

Make the festive season special by making some delicious desserts. Puja holidays and Deepavali are a good excuse you to let go of the calorie count and indulge a bit. You don't need to spend hours in the kitchen if you knew the right method to make some evergreen Indian sweets. Here are a few recipes.

Phirni

Ingredients

Rice: 1 kg
Milk: 10 ltrs
Sugar: 2 kg
Cardamom powder: 30 gm
Kewra water: 50 ml
Chopped pistachio: 30 gm
Chopped almond: 30 gm

Method: Wash and soak rice for 30 min. Prepare a fine paste of rice. Boil milk and add the rice paste to it. Cook milk and rice mixture for 20 min while stirring constantly. Add rest of the ingredients and cook for five mins. Strain and set in individual service ware. Serve cold.

Khubani Ka Meetha

Ingredients

Apricot: 1 kg
Sugar: 1 kg
Thick cream: 50 ml

Method: Boil apricot till it becomes soft. Stone the apricots, cook them with sugar in the same water used for boiling. Cook till mixture becomes thick. Serve Khubani Ka Meetha cold garnished with a dollop of fresh, thick cream.

Rasmalai

Ingredients

Cow milk: 3 litres
Sugar: one and a half kg
Citric acid: 1 tsp
Cardamom powder: 1 tsp
Saffron: 1 gm
Rose water: 10 ml
Pistachio slivers: 20 gm
Refined flour: 10 gm

Baking powder: 5 gm

Method: Boil cow milk and add citric acid to curdle it. Separate the chenna and whey. Set aside chenna in a muslin cloth to drain excess water. Mix chenna, refined flour, cardamom powder, saffron, baking powder and mix well.

Prepare individual roundels of the dough. Prepare sugar syrup and poach chenna dumplings. Set aside to cool. Serve cold.

Gulab Jamun

Ingredients

Dry milk powder: 1 cup

All-purpose flour: 3 tbsp

Ghee (clarified butter), melted: 2 tbsp

Baking powder: 1half tsp

Warm milk: half cup

Chopped almonds (optional): 1 tbsp

Chopped pistachio nuts (optional): 1 tbsp

Golden raisins (optional): 1 tbsp

Ground cardamom: a pinch

Vegetable oil for deep-frying: 1 quart

White sugar: one and a quarter cups

Water: 7 fluid ounces

Rose water: 1 tsp

Ground cardamom: a pinch

Method: In a large bowl, stir together the milk powder, flour, baking powder, and cardamom. Stir in the almonds, pistachios and golden raisins. Mix in the melted ghee, then pour in the milk, and continue to mix until well blended.

Cover and let rest for 20 minutes. In a large skillet, stir together the sugar, water, rose water and a pinch of cardamom. Bring to a boil, and simmer for just a minute. Set aside. Fill a large heavy skillet halfway with oil.

Heat over medium heat for at least five minutes. Knead the dough, and form into about 20 small balls.

Reduce the heat of the oil, and fry the balls in one or two batches. After a few minutes, they will start to float and expand to twice their original size, but the colour will not change much.

Once the jamuns float, increase the heat to medium, and turn them frequently until light golden. Remove from the oil to paper towels using a slotted spoon; allow to cool. Place the balls into the skillet with the syrup. Simmer over medium heat for about five minutes, squeezing them gently to soak up the syrup. Serve immediately, or chill.

(The writer is Executive chef at ITC Hotel Kakatiya Sheraton and Towers)

(The writer is Executive chef at ITC Hotel Kakatiya Sheraton and Towers)

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