Kamadhenu Junnu powder/Kharvas/Karwas

 Junnu - Telugu

Ginnu - Kannada

Kharvas - Marathi

It is prepared using the colostrum milk that a cow/buffalo produces for the first few days after it delivers a calf. It is believed that this milk is full of nutrients and builds immunity in human body. I missed eating the fresh junnu being in the US, until I discovered Kamadhenu Junnu Powder. This dessert is very easy to make and tastes like a fresh one. 

Ingredients:

Kamadhenu Junnu Powder - 1 packet

Milk - 2 cups

Sugar - 1 cup

Elaichi/Cardamom + Pepper powder - 1tsp

Almonds/Cashews small pieces - 2-3 tbs (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl
2. Pour some water in a pressure cooker, put the bowl, and cover it with a plate. Keep a small weight on the plate and pressure cook until 5 whistles
3. Once the pressure is released, refrigerate for 3-4 hours
4. Cut into small pieces and enjoy!

Step by step process with pictures -

Rasgulla

Rasagulla is a North Indian sweet prepared with fresh curd cheese. If we have soft paneer/chenna in hand it will take 15mins to prepare this sweet. You can find chenna recipe here.

Ingredients:

1. Paneer / curd cheese - 1 lb (prepared with 1/2 gallon whole milk, here is the recipe)
2. Sugar - 2 cups
3. Water - 3 cups
4. All purpose flour - 1 tablespoon
5. Rose Water / Cardamom powder - 1 tsp (for flavoring)

Instructions:

1. Knead the paneer along with flour on a clean surface with hands for 2-3mins.
2. Seperate the dough into equal parts making round balls.
3. Boil sugar and water in a pressure cooker (better to use wide cooker) closing the lid, without keeping the whistle.
4. Once the liquid starts boiling, add the balls to the liquid and cover the lid, cook for 15mins. Make sure there is enough room to rasgullas to cook. Rasgullas become double in size after they are cooked. Add rose water/ cardamom powder to the sugar syrup.
5. Take the rasgullas carefully with a spatula to a bowl and pour the sugar syrup on top of them.
6. Cool at room temperature and refrigirate before serving.

This Rasulla is the main ingredient for preparing the Rasmalais. Cooking these rasgullas in milk, and sugar results the rasmalais. I will try to post the recipe for rasmalais in near future.

Watermelon Granita

When I first saw this slush-type drink/dessert, I thought it was crushed ice colored in red with some flavoring. But when I tasted it, I got to know that it was made from watermelon. So I couldn't wait to try it at home.

Granita is an Italian semi-frozen dessert made with sugar, water and fruit. I used watermelon as it's my favourite summer fruit. As the name indicates, watermelon is 92% filled with water. Here is a hint on how to select a ripe melon:

To pick the perfect watermelon, use the hand to thump the watermelon. The sound will either be solid, like thumping a piece of wood, hollow like tapping a water jug, or thick like tapping a water balloon. If the watermelon is not ripe enough, it will sound solid. If it is too ripe, it will sound thick. A perfect watermelon will sound hollow.

Ingredients:

1. Seedless Watermelon chunks - 4 cups
2. Sugar - 1/2 cup (or depending on the taste of the melon)
3. Water - 1/4 cup
4. Lemon/Lime - 1 no. (extract juice)

Instructions:

1. Boil Sugar with water until sugar has dissolved and the solution becomes clear. Cool it completely.
2. Grind the watermelon chunks along with lemon juice and sugar syrup prepared above. Check for sweetness and add sugar if required, as the dessert is less sweet after it's frozen.
3. Pour into a shallow, wide pan and freeze for 1 hour. Rake the mixture with fork and freeze for another hour. Rake and freeze for one more hour.
4. Rake and serve in cups.

Carrot Halwa

Carrot Halwa is one of the most commonly served desserts in Indian restaurants/buffets. After reading this recipe from my friend's blog, I thought of sharing my way of making it through this post. This recipe involves pressure cooking the carrots to reduce the preparation time and tastes as good as when the carrots are fried.

Ingredients:

1. Carrots (grated) - 1 cup
2. Milk - 1/3 cup (or till it covers the carrot pulp in cooker)
3. Sugar - as required (typically 1/2 cup or more)
4. Cardamom powder (ground) - 1/2 tsp
5. Cashews & Raisins - as required
6. Ghee - 3 tsps or optional
7. Honey - 2 tsps (serves as a binding agent)

Instructions:

1. Pressure cook grated carrots in milk until they are well cooked.
2. Transfer the contents into a frying pan and fry until milk gets completely absorbed/evaporated.
3. Add sugar, honey and ghee and cook for another 5mins.
4. Mix the cardamom powder, cashews, and raisins.
5. Cool to room temperature and serve.

Cherry Upside-Down Cake

This is my first attempt at making upside-down cakes. I always had the opinion that upside down cakes are nothing but a plain cake with a fruit topping. But when I tasted a pineapple upside down cake recently, I was quite impressed with the moist pineapple flavor absorbed by the cake. I tried this cake using bing and rainier cherries, and it turned out so yummy that I couldn't resist from having more than 1 serving.

The recipe makes one 8" round cake.

Ingredients:

1. Cherries - 1 cup (pitted and cut into half pieces)
2. Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons (I used "I can't believe it's not butter")
3. Brown sugar - 1/2 cup (can be reduced if cherries are very sweet)
4. Granulated Sugar - 1/2 cup
5. All purpose flour/cake flour - 1 cup
6. Baking powder - 1 tsp
7. Salt - a pinch (less than 1/4 tsp)
8. Vanilla extract - 1 tsp
9. Orange zest - 1 tsp

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Place butter in an 8" round baking pan, and warm it in oven until the butter melts completely.
3. Remove from oven, and sprinkle brown sugar evenly over the butter.
4. Layer the cherry halves, cut side down, all over the pan.
5. Combine the flour, baking powder, salt in a bowl.
6. Separate egg whites and yolks in two separate bowls.
7. Beat egg whites at high speed until they become fluffy. Set it aside.
8. Beat egg yolks with sugar, vanilla extract and orange zest at medium speed until creamy. Add the flour mixture to the creamed mixture and beat until they are well mixed.
9. Add the egg whites to the above mix and fold it using a spatula.
10. Pour cake mixture evenly over the fruit layer in the pan, and smooth the surface.
11. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until cake is done (a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean).
12. Cool it for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edges of the pan to loosen the cake. Invert carefully onto a plate. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Before turning upside down -

After turning upside down -

Plain Cake

As the name suggests, this is a simple cake with very few ingredients. Also known as pound cake (in which all the ingredients are a pound each), it is my family's all time favourite because of it's soft, light and fluffy nature.

Ingredients:

1. All purpose flour - 1 cup
2. Unsalted Butter - 1 cup (can use less ~3/4th cup)
3. Sugar - 1 cup
4. Eggs - 4
5. Baking powder - 1 tsp
6. Vanilla essence - few drops
7. Cardamom powder - 1/4 tsp (optional)

Instructions:

1. Pre heat oven to 350F.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl (all purpose flour, sugar,cardamom powder and baking powder).
3. Keep the butter at room temperature. Blend it with hand mixer until it becomes fluffy (the more we beat, the more fluffy and light the cake will be).
4. Add eggs one at a time and blend well.
5. Add dry ingredients to the above and blend well. Finally add vanilla essence and mix well.
6. Grease the cake pan with oil and place a parchment paper. Fill the pan with the cake batter 3/4th full and bake for 45 mins (or) until the cake is done. Cake is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Another entry to Event for Eggs.

Dark Chocolate Cake

"Save the Earth. It's the only planet with chocolate". - My favourite quote :).
This is my all time favourite chocolate cake. Tasted many chocolate cakes but never beat this cake in taste. I got this recipe from Hershey's website.


I am sending this recipe to "For the Love of Chocolate - April 30th" event.

Ingredients:

Unsweetened cocoa powder (I used Hershey's dutch processed) - 3/4 cup

Sugar - 1-3/4 cups

All-purpose flour - 1-3/4 cups

Baking powder - 1-1/2 teaspoons

Baking soda - 1-1/2 teaspoons

Salt - 1 teaspoon

Eggs - 1

Milk - 1 cup

Vegetable oil(Canola) - 1/2 cup

Vanilla essence - 2 teaspoons

Boiling water - 1 cup

• Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour (or spray oil) two 9-inch round baking pans.
• Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
• Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin).
• Pour batter into prepared pans.
• Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

I made the chocolate Ganache using the below recipe:

Ingredients:

Butter - 1 stick
Cocoa powder - 1/2 cup
Milk - 1/3 cup
Powdered sugar - 1 cup (or as required)
Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

• Melt butter, add cocoa and boil 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and beat until smooth. Spread while warm.

Enjoy the rich moist dark chocolate cake.