Happy Diwali

Diwali, festival of lights, mithai (Sweets), crackers, embellishment of homes with handcrafted diyas, lanterns, flowers, new clothes, jewellery and warmly welcoming family and friends home to celeberate the festivities.

The aroma of festivity begins almost a week earlier in every household with preparation of sweets and savory. We savor the aroma of roasted besan (Gramflour), preparation of savory’s like chakali, mathri, and the list can go..

A ritual in our family followed every year, my dadi (grandmom) prepares her famous besan ladoo and mathri. She roasts the besan to a level that the whole house will have its aroma and her love to add dry fruits in all sweets she prepares. She says that no mithai is complete without dryfruits.

Both of us discuss the receipe proportion every year and always come up with some variations.

Besan Ladoo involves 4 key ingredients, besan (Gramflour), Ghee (Clarified Butter), Sugar, dyrfruits.

Proportion used: 2 cups of besan, 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup ghee, dryfruits to your liking

The success factor in making the right besan ladoo is to roast the gram flour and besan well till the entire house gets the aroma. Turn off the gas, let this mixture cool, add in the sugar and mix well.

Once cool shape it well in the form of ladoos and garnish it with dry fruits. Relish it with family and friends.

Another laddoo that I prepared this year was coconut ladoo with a twist. A very easy and simple recipe with 2 main ingredients, coconut and condensed milk. You can choose desiccated or fresh coconut. I used desiccated coconut this year and for the twist I used a little bit of orange zest.

Mix coconut, condensed milk and the orange zest together. The consistency should be sticky. You may adjust the sweatness as per your taste. Roll them into ladoos garnsih with some cardomom powder or dryfruit and relish it.

A special thanks to B’trayed for making this diwali special. The ladoos served in one of the bowls from their Tapas and Salad bowl collection made it a perfect Diwali Gift exchanged with family and friends…

Vishu

Vishu is a festival celebrated in the Indian state of Kerala. Lord Vishnu and his incarnation Lord Krishna are worshiped on the day of Vishu. It is said that on this day Lord Krishna killed the demon Narakasura.

The night before Vishu, the family gets together and prepares VishuKani. In Malayalam Kani means first. Hence Vishnu Kani means the things seen first on Vishu day. Items representing wealth and prosperity such us golden yellow Konna flowers, rice, lentils, fruits like mango, apple, banana, gold, coins and notes along with an idol of Krishna and a mirror are placed in the Kani. The mirror is placed so that one sees themselves as part of the wealth and prosperity. Oil Lamps are placed next to to the kani.

The head of the family rises at dawn and lights the oil lamps. He/she would then wake the rest of the family, blindfolds and guides them to the place where the Vishu Kani is placed and then releases the blindfold. The first thing that one would see is yourself thru the mirror surrounded by prosperity.

Later the family prepares Vishu Sadhya and feasts together.

This time we prepared a Payasam made with lentils known as Paruppu Payasam in Kerala. One of my favorite desserts. It was prepared by my father in law and I couldnt stop eating it. So this year I decided to prepare it for Vishu with a few shortcuts to the original preparation but it turned out great.

The key ingredients: Moong Dal, Coconut Milk (Thick and Thin), jaggery, powdered cardamom, dry fruits like cashew and raisins

Here are the shortcuts which I did, you may choose to follow the traditional way:

coconut milk: I used the tetra pack thick coconut milk and added equal portion of water to make thin coconut milk. However you can chose to make fresh coconut milk from coconuts
Jaggery: Some grate jaggery boil it in water and then add it to the payasam. I used powdered jaggery and did not boil it in water

Steps:

Soak 1/2 cup moong dal for an hour, and then dry roast it in cooker in some ghee. Add 11/2 cup water and let it cook for 2-3 whistles.
Once the dal is cooked, open the cooker and give it a nice stir to ensure the dal is cooked well.
Now add 1/2 cup thin coconut milk to the dal and keep steering it on low flame
Now add the jaggery powder and cardamom powder and keep steering it. You may adjust the sweetness to your liking. I used little less than 1/2 cup of jaggery powder.
Let the payasam boil for a few minutes and then add the thick coconut milk. Do not boil the thick coconut. Just pour in 1/4th cup thick coconut milk, mix it well and turn off the gas.
Lightly roast the cashew and raisins in ghee, add it to the paysam, mix well and serve. Some also dry roast small pieces of coconut and add to the payasam

Payasam

Summer Berry Trifle

Trifle is a traditional English dessert made with cake soaked in sherry, fruits, custard and cream.

The history of trifle dates back to 1585 when the name trifle was mentioned in a recipe for a thick cream flavored with sugar, ginger and rosewater, in Thomas Dawson’s book of English cookery The Good Housewife Jewell (source:wiki).

Trifle has evolved ever since and there are many versions of it.

Here’s mine. It’s quite a simple process where the key to success is the assembly of all ingredients.

Do try and share your versions..

I have replaced cake with ladyfinger biscuits soaked in orange juice as my first layer.

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Followed by a thin layer of Rasberry jam to add a little sweetness, followed by fruits (strawberry and blueberry) and finally a layer of custard.

Repeat the steps one more time and then garnish with some nuts and fruits..

Refrigerate for 4-5 hours before serving. For better results prepare it a day earlier before serving and enjoy it chilled..

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The traditional recipe uses whipped cream as a garnish or as a layer in the middle after custard I have skipped it completely. Instead of jam you can also use jelly.

While growing up, there was a similar dessert made at home where custard was replaced with ice cream and it was delicious..

Eager to hear more combinations and try them too..