GULAB JAMUN INDIAN DESSERTS

Ingredients to make 20-25 Gulab Jamun :-

• Khoya                                250 grams.
  
• Cottage Cheese                150  grams
• Maida                                2 table spoons
• Baking powder                 a pinch
• Cashewnuts(chopped)    1 table spoon
• Raisins & Cherry             1 table spoon
• Cardamom powder         1/4 tea spoon
• Kewra essence                 a few drops
• Coconut powder              2 table spoons
• Sugar                                500 grams
• Ghee                                 for frying

Method :-

Beat khoya & cottage cheese separately, combine both. Now add maida & baking powder. If the mixture is too thick, add a little milk. Make lemon size balls of the mixture. Mix cashewnuts, raisins, cardamom powder & one tablespoon sugar in a plate. Flatten the balls & fill this mixture & remake the balls. Heat ghee in a pan, fry the balls on low fire. When the balls are light brown, remove from fire & put them in the syrup. To make syrup add sugar to 3 cups of water & boil till a slightly thick syrup is obtained. Remove from fire, add kewra essence. When the dipped Gulab Jamuns are soft, remove from the syrup on a plate, cover them with coconut powder & decorate with cherry. This is a very famous sweet of northern India, is very delicious to eat.          

RASGULLAS INDIAN SWEETS

Ingredients to make 30-35 Rasgullas :-

• Milk                              2 Ltrs.
  
• Water                           2 cups
• Sugar                            1 kg.
• Citric acid                    1 tea spoon
• Kewra essence            a few drops

Method :-

Heat milk in a utensil. Combine 2 cups of water & citric acid. Add this mixture after the milk boils, when water & milk separate, remove from fire, add two cups of cold of water. Sieve it through a thin cloth. Place the cheese thus obtained in a plate & beat with palms for 10-15 minutes. Then make lemon size balls & keep in plate. Combine sugar & ten cups of water, make a syrup in a pressure cooker without putting on the lid, remove & sieve it. Again put the thin syrup on the fire in the pressure cooker, when the syrup boils, add the cheese balls & close the pressure cooker lid. When the cooker whistles four times, remove from fire. When it cools, pour half the syrup in a bowl. Add one cup water & the kewra essence. Now put the puffed up Rasgullas in the thin syrup. Keep in fridge to cool & serve when required. This is a very common & tasty sweet liked by all, even diabetes patients take it after squeezing most of the sweet syrup out of it.    

INDIAN FOODS PICKLES

DRY PICKLE OF MANGO :-

Ingredients :-

• Raw mangoes                             1 kg.
  
• Black pepper                              25 gms.
• Big cardamom                             25 gms.
• Cumin seed                                 25 gms.
• Cinnamon                                   20 gms.
• Clove                                           8-10 
• Salt                                              75 gms.
• Thread                                        for tieing

Method :-

Wash & peel mangoes. Cut in pieces in such a way that they remain joined at the bottom. Remove the stones. Finely grind all the spices, fill the spices in the mangoes & tie them with a thread so that the spices do not come out. Fill in a jar, pour all the left over spices on the mangoes, keep in the sun for 8-10 days. A very special aroma will arise from the pickle as the mangoes will ooze juices in the sun. This pickle is very tasty & is specially recommended to be eaten along with rice. This pickle is very sour. Oil is not used to prepare the pickle. Peeled mango slices also are used to make the same kind of pickle. Oil is not used so the pickle is dry.               

INDIAN FOOD PICKLES

MANGO SWEET PICKLE :-

Ingredients :-

• Raw Mangoes                          1500 gms.
• Mustard                                   20 gms.
• Black Pepper &
• Fenugreek                               10 gms. each
• Cuminseeds,
• Turmeric &
• Mungril                                    10 gms. each
• Salt                                           2 tablespoons
• Sugar                                       800 gms.
• Vinegar                                   150 gms.

Method :-

Cut mangoes lengthwise into four pieces. Remove stones. Wrap mango pieces in ground mustard & salt. Soak these pieces in a little water for two days. Remove from water after two days. Mix  ground black pepper, fenugreek, cuminseed, turmeric & mungril with the mangoes, add the vinegar. Make a thick syrup of sugar, pour it over the mangoes. Keep aside for 24 hours. Fill the mangoes in a glass jar & keep in the sun for 3 days. Tasty sweet mango pickle is ready.    

Carrot Murabba

CARROT MURABBA

Ingredients ;

• Thick carrots            2 Kg.
• Sugar                         2 Kg.
• Lemon                       one
• Small Cardamom     10 pieces

Method :

Big, thick & hard carrots are used for making murabba, peel these & cut into 4-5 cm. pieces. Cut these into four length-wise pieces, remove the central hard portion. Boil water in a utensil. Add these carrots to boiling water, cook for for three minutes. Take them out & dry them with a clean cloth. Prick these with a steel fork. Combine sugar & 4-5 cups water in steel utensil, heat to make a light syrup. When the syrup boils add carrots cook for 10 minutes. Remove from fire & keep aside for 4-5 hours. Again heat the syrup till it is a bit thick. Add juice of lime & finely ground cardamom. Fill in a jar after it cools. You can use a small teaspoon citric acid instead of lime juice. Murabba is ready .  

Amla Murabba

AMLA MURABBA

Ingredients :

• Fresh Amla                      1 kg.
• Sugar                                2 kg.
• Sugar Candy                    60-70 grams
• Small Cardamom            10-12
• Lime                                 50 grams

Method:-

Take big ripe Amlas, soak them in water for a day. Remove the amlas from water & dry them with a clean cloth, prick each amla several times with a fork. Make a solution of water & lime, add the pricked amlas to it & keep aside for at least three days. Take the amlas out of the lime solution after three days. Clean them with fresh water & dry them in shade. Heat sugar candy in two cups of water. When the water boils add amlas, cook these till the amlas are tender. Remove from syrup, keep aside to dry in shade. Throw away the sugar candy solution. Make a syrup of sugar & enough quantity of water. When the syrup boils add the amlas, cook for 10-12 minutes, remove from fire. Next day boil the amlas again till a thick syrup is obtained. Add finely ground cardamoms after it cools. Store in a glass jar. This murabba is very rich in Vitamin C. It is very beneficial for the heart, brain & eyes. It keeps you cool. Eat one amla each day with breakfast & gain valuable health.                                     

DATE-PALM PICKLE

DATE PALM PICKLE

Ingredients :

• Date Palm                       1/2 kg.
• Sugar                               200 grams
• Raisins                             50 grams
• Black pepper                  50 grams
• Dry Ginger Powder       30-50 grams
• Cuminseeds                    2 table spoons
• Salt                                  1 table spoon
• Vinegar                           1/2 litre

Method :

Cut date palms length-wise without breaking them into two pieces. Remove the stones. Combine black pepper, salt, cuminseeds & dry ginger powder, grind it finely. Fill these spices in the date-palms. Tie each date-palm with thread. Quantity of salt can be altered to taste. Fill all the date-palms in a jar. Add cleaned raisins. Raisins are not an essential part of the recipe you can avoid putting them if they are not as per your taste. Add sugar in the jar filled with stuffed date-palms.Then add vinegar, the quantity of vinegar should be enough to dip all the date-palms in it.Keep the closed jar in the sun for 15 days. Date-palms & raisins will puff up. Delicious pickle is ready.