Rava Laddu

Rava or Semolina Laddu is a common after meals sweets in south & western India.Its quite common in Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra and is associated with Janmashtami celebrations.
This is supposedly a low calorie dish though its difficult to ascertain how any sweet can be low on cal.

Here is my recipe..

Prep Time : - 3 - 4 mins & Cooking time - 10 - 15 mins

Rava or Semolina flour  - 2 cups

Grated Coconut - 1 cup

Butter - 1 tbsp
Milk - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup - 1 cup ( depending on how much of a sweet tooth u are)
Cardomom powder - 1 tsp
Cashews and raisins - 1 tsp each

Heat the butter in a kadai and add the cashews & raisins. Add the rava flour and stir it well for about 5 mins. Add the grated coconut and keep stirring it well till the moisture in the coconut drains off. Meanwhile heat milk. Once milk has boiled, add sugar to the milk and stir well. When the coconut and rava starts to change color ( a  light off white color) add the milk and cardomom powder. If requried vanilla essence can also be added for an additional flavor. Mix well , so that there is a thick consistency to the dough. Let it cool for about 2- 3 mins and start making small round laddy with your hands. Try and insert one raisin / cashew nut into each laddu.

This can be stored in the refrigerator for about 1 week.

Caramel Custard

Caramel Custard is one of the most common desserts made across the globe in exactly the same manner. It is said to have a french origin and was intially called flan. The recipe can be however traced back to the ancient Roman period and there is even a National Caramel Custard Day which is celebrated on October 3rd when Spanish and French households whip out eggs and prepare this dish or the more sweeter version called flan.

Caramel Custard is one of my fav desserts, I like it delicate and not very sweet but with enough caramel oozing out all over :)...

Here is my recipe..

Ingredients

1. Milk – 1 cup

2. Eggs – 2

3. Condensed milk - 1 cup ( same as milk qty)

4. Corn flour – 1 teaspoon

5. Vanilla essence -  1/2 teaspoon

6. Sugar – 2 dessert spoon

For Pudding

Beat the eggs well, first the whites and then the yolks, make it nice and fluffy. The softness of the dessert comes from how well the eggs are beaten. Blend in the condensed milk and continue to mix well. Mix one Tsp milk ( should be at room temperature) with corn flour and make a paste without any lumps. Add this paste to the condensed milk/eggs mixture. Add the remaining milk and vanilla essence. Mix well.

For Caramel

Spread 2-3 dessert spoon of sugar in the caramelising dish. Add some water & caramelise it. When it becomes golden brown colour, take it off from stove. Pour into the pudding dish. This needs to be done immediately as the caramel will cystalize quickly. Pour the pudding and cover the dish with alumunium foil. Pour 2 glasses of water in pressure cooker or any covered cooking vessel. Keep the pudding dish in that & cook for 10 minutes on slow fire after putting the weight. Turn off the gas. Keep the dish in pressure cooker for another 30 – 45 minutes. Once the dish is cooled keep in fridge for 3- 4 hrs.

While serving, reverse it onto the serving plate and serve cold. It goes well with fresh cream or ice cream also.It can be decoarted with choclate syrup or cashews and choco chips...

Carrot Cake

I associate carrot cake with Christmas as this was a regular at my home this time of the year. I thought that this was pretty much a home fare till it started appearing in the menu of coffee day ( and they charge 40 bucks a piece). Wikipedia says carrot cake originated in the medieval period as carrots where used as natural vegetable sweetners and became popular in Europe during the second world war. I have no idea how it became popular in a syrian christian household in kerala.