Lychee Heart Cake

Some recipes are a complete fluke and some recipes are born out of disaster. This recipe is  the latter category. I was trying to cook something and it turned out bad, but I just couldn’t give up and throw away. Instead I came up with these amazing burfis, which weren’t just a life saver but also tasted delicious. Not to forget, a great invention too.

I have always loved Lychee. They are one of my most favorite fruits. Every Lychee season, my father would make sure he gets more than enough for me to enjoy and I believe the whole season I wouldn’t touch any other fruit besides Lychee. With so much love for a fruit, its pretty evident that once I start cooking and inventing my own dishes, I will give something with Lychee a try.

This is how the story goes. So, during my Kulfi making season, I thought of trying to make Lychee Kulfi. And, it was one of those times when after successful attempts made me over confident and without thinking of the consequences I went on with the process resulting in failure. The milk mixed with lychee and its syrup [I used canned lychee] curdled the milk.

There was this milk in front of my eyes, that had Khoya and sugar added to it and gone sour and I was left in a puzzle and guilt of throwing away this food. As they say that Necessity is the mother of all inventions, I believe some inventions are failure/ guilt driven too. The feeling of not succeeding also makes you think outside the box and attempt harder.

I decided to hang the curdled milk, as what we do in the process of making paneer. Later I added some sugar and dry milk powder to it and whisked the whole mixture really well. Further, crushed some butter cookies and layered it as a base and put the mixture on it and bake.

The cake came out fabulous. Since I start taking pictures of the process from the first step, I have the pictures from the time the milk went bad while boiling. You could add the syrup from canned lychee and it will surely do the trick.

If not, add 2 tsp of vinegar, but in that case wash the curdled milk with ice cold water while you hang it in muslin cloth.

This cake has mild Lychee flavor and the cookies add a little crunch to the cake as well.

 

Lychee Burfi

Some recipes are a complete fluke and some recipes are born out of disaster. This recipe is  the latter category. I was trying to cook something and it turned out bad, but I just couldn’t give up and throw away. Instead I came up with these amazing burfis, which weren’t just a life saver but also tasted delicious. Not to forget, a great invention too.

I have always loved Lychee. They are one of my most favorite fruits. Every Lychee season, my father would make sure he gets more than enough for me to enjoy and I believe the whole season I wouldn’t touch any other fruit besides Lychee. With so much love for a fruit, its pretty evident that once I start cooking and inventing my own dishes, I will give something with Lychee a try.

This is how the story goes. So, during my Kulfi making season, I thought of trying to make Lychee Kulfi. And, it was one of those times when after successful attempts made me over confident and without thinking of the consequences I went on with the process resulting in failure. The milk mixed with lychee and its syrup [I used canned lychee] curdled the milk.

There was this milk in front of my eyes, that had Khoya and sugar added to it and gone sour and I was left in a puzzle and guilt of throwing away this food. As they say that Necessity is the mother of all inventions, I believe some inventions are failure/ guilt driven too. The feeling of not succeeding also makes you think outside the box and attempt harder.

I decided to hang the curdled milk, as what we do in the process of making paneer. Later I added some sugar and dry milk powder to it and whisked the whole mixture really well. Put the mixture in molds and put them in the refrigerator to set. They came out fabulous. Since I start taking pictures of the process from the first step, I have the pictures from the time the milk went bad while boiling. You could add the syrup from canned lychee and it will surely do the trick. If not, add 2 tsp of vinegar, but in that case wash the curdled milk with ice cold water while you hang it in muslin cloth.

This dish was so good that it was an instant hit. The burfis are creamy, soft and melt in the mouth. The sweetness of lychee and richness of Khoya make an excellent combination. Its a must try if you like to impress your guests with something different from usual.

Kesar Pista Milkshake

After my successful trial of Kesar Pista Kulfi, I wanted to make kesar pista milkshake. It was during one of those hot summer afternoons when my boys returned from their soccer camp, they needed something cool and filling. Mostly its a fruit smoothie/ chocolate/ vanilla milkshake, but once in a while its always good to try something different and pure Indian…LOLzzz.

Before I give out other details, let me tell you this. So, there was this not too fancy Indian restaurant but, they had great Kesar Pista Milkshake. Too much competition and unable to maintain made the restaurant shut down. The best thing about that milkshake was that it had kesar pista ice cream in the bottom that would melt slowly and make the milkshake more cooler and thicker.

Since we didn’t have that restaurant anymore and also I had started making this awesome Kesar pista kulfi, this had to be my next step. It was one of the best things I ever made. There were few trials and errors till it came out to be as perfect as we would love it to be.

A little bit of Kesar Pista Kulfi at the bottom of the glass adds a lot of thickness to the Milkshake. The milkshake needs to be made with Milk and ice cream blended together. A little bit of sugar can be added if needed, but I definitely don’t recommend it. You might feel that the ice cream blended with milk might decrease the sweetness and flavor but actually adding sugar will make it extra sweet , since there is extra ice cream at the bottom of the glass too.

 

Kesar Pista Kulfi

I love Ice creams and Kulfis are my complete favorite. Kesar Pista Kulfi are one of the first Kulfis that I tried and have been a big fan of the Kesar Pista Kulfi ever since. In fact, for a very long time, I refrained from trying any other flavor of Kulfi. Those days I couldn’t imagine in the wildest of my dreams that I would be trying so many different flavors of Kulfi and create my own too.

Saffron is not just an expensive spice but a very flavorful one too. We took a trip to Dubai and visited the famous spice souk. Oh my God! what an amazing place. The fragrance throughput that market amazes and kind of is soul satisfying. Its so pure that if you rub a little on your hand, that fragrance won’t leave your hand for hours. So, during our first trip to Dubai, I bought 500 gms of saffron. Yupp!  You read it right, half a Kg of Saffron. The thing is that when I travel to different places, I don’t mind spending money on stuff that’s authentic and pure. The quality of spices that you will find in Dubai/Middle East is something you might never find in other places. I have met a lot of people praising Saffron from Spain, and finding it better. But, I believe they haven’t had the privilege to try the Saffron from Middle East.

I would have actually bought a few more spices too, but considering the amount of shopping I had done, my luggage couldn’t have taken more. Coming back to the Kulfi. So, when I started making my own ice creams is when I thought of trying the Kulfi and the first one that came to my mind was Kesar Pista Kulfi.

As much as the flavors convince you that its difficult to make something so amazingly flavorful by yourself. Believe me and follow the recipe step by step and amaze yourself and your loved ones with the super delicious treat.

Kaju Katli

I have always loved Kaju Katli/ Kaju Burfi. I belong to the city, which is considered the heaven of sweets. There is no Indian popular sweet that you won’t find in my city.

Kaju Katli was always my favorite. The sweetness of cashews makes the kaju katli nutty, creamy and delicious. Earlier Mr. Parveez wasn’t a big fan of kaju Katli, but he would make sure that every time he would find them at a sweet store, he would buy some for me. Time went on, the boys tasted Kaju Katli and it was my older one who became a fan, so every time we were in India, I would buy enough to have him enjoy. On our way back home, I would always bring our favorite sweets including these yummilicious diamonds.

So, the last time I was in India, we had so much baggage while returning that I only got 1 Kg of Kaju Katli. We return and after unpacking while my older one was watching TV, I gave some to my older one to eat. A few minutes later comes in my second one and is all curious as to what my older one is enjoying so much. He gives it a try and we have another fan. He started munching on the Kaju Katli like chips and believe or not we finished the whole box in 4 days…LOLzzz.

Now, with kids who love Kaju Katli so much and living in a place where the sweet stores aren’t as good as India, I had to get down to experimenting and making my own. As much as I was excited about achieving success in making my favorite sweet, the best part was when Mr. Parveez tried them, he loved them too and he said that they actually taste better than any store bought burfi that he has ever tried.

Since then, there have been no more store bought Kaju katlis in our house ever. This recipe is easy to make and you will love them. Just follow the recipe properly and enjoy the wonderful homemade Kaju Katli.

Vanilla Ice Cream

Ice creams are my first love. I love ice creams so much that I can wake up at 2 AM for this awesomely delicious frozen treat. Never imagined as a kid that one day I would making my own and loving them so much. When I started making bread at home, Mr. Parveez couldn’t bear to see his dear wife struggle with the dough to make it perfect for the bread and got me a Kitchen aid dough maker. Now I am so lazy that even if I have make chapati dough, I use my Kitchen Aid.

My better half, Mr. Parveez loves shopping for his wife. I know, I am really fortunate. So, he love shopping for add ons too. Like when he buys me a dress, he would look around to see if there is a jewelry piece that might look great or a pair of shoes. He kind of does something similar with Kitchen gadgets as well. The appliance was originally bought for mixing, whisking and kneading. The add ons brought in attachments for salad chopping, meat grinder and an ice cream maker.

Mr. Parveez and I loved having the frozen desert every night. I don’t remember a single night not enjoying the yummy treat while I was pregnant. In fact, I ate my hubby’s share too and the poor guy never complained. And, then came the kids loving the treat as much as us.  The boys were always branching out to whatever new flavor was at the our favorite ice cream store. So when I got my first ice cream maker, I knew I could push my frozen treat boundaries even further and experiment my heart out. To start with, Vanilla had to be the base. I just had to make sure that I knew the basics correctly.

My first try with the vanilla Ice cream was something with eggs. Now, I am not too sure ho many people enjoy vanilla ice cream with eggs, but being from India and eating ice creams that are basically vegetarian, and I could smell the eggs in my ice cream and I wasn’t too happy with experiment.

I then started out with a simpler vanilla ice cream recipe, egg less. Its made with heavy cream and sugar. You can substitute the Heavy cream with milk if you are calorie conscious, but I recommend going all out, after all its a dessert.

Jalebi

Indian word jalebi is derived from the Arabic word zulabiya or the Persian zolbiya, another name for Luqmat al Qadi. This recipe was brought to Medieval India by Persian-speaking Turkish invaders. In 15th century India, jalebi was known as Kundalika or Jalavallika. The versions kept changing and ultimately the Mughals made it “Jalebi”, the way we all enjoy it today.

There is no Indian/ Pakistani/Bangladeshi I met who haven’t shown their love for Jalebis to me. Its heavenly, crispy, sweet and melts your heart. My hometown, Jodhpur makes the best Jalebis in this world. If you don’t believe me, take a trip to the most gorgeous city of Rajasthan, land of the last palace built in India and the land to Rao Jodhana, “Jodhpur”.

Its a funny connection, but Mr. Parveez’s family hails from the Mughals. We would still like to find details of the connection but for now we only are aware that the family are indirectly the descendants of the Mughlia Dynasty. My husband considers himself the rebirth of one of the Mughal rulers and looking at his taste for food and lifestyle choices and the way he treats the guests, I quiet firmly agree to it…LOLzzz. Since he married me and I am from Jodhpur, he always reminds me of how the Mughal rulers had a crush on women from Marwar. We all know about Maharani Jodha, but the Mughal family had another queen from Marwar and that too from my hometown, Jodhpur. The queen to King Jahangir and Mother to King Shah Jahan was from Jodhpur as well.

Vibrant colors of Jodhpur keep you cool and the warmth of the beautiful people melts your heart. The city where Ghee flows like river and a popular joke among people is that people of Jodhpur are always “Ghee Positive”. Coming back to Jalebis, sweets make morning breakfast in Jodhpur. The most popular breakfast is Doodh Jalebi or Doodh Fini.

When Mr. Parveez and I got married, I knew has a sweet tooth and believe it or not, living in Jodhpur, I cannot eat jalebis. It shocks many, including my better half, but I think I just don’t like any sweets that swim in sugar syrup. Anyways, I told Mr. Parveez during our first visit to Jodhpur after marriage that Doodh Jalebi is a popular breakfast. He thought I was just bluffing and smiled as if he did believe me. To his surprise, that was the first breakfast served to him since everyone knew he likes jalebi and my poor husband thought, “Yeah I do like them but only as dessert and not as the main course. I still remember his face and I still can’t stop laughing at his situation.

Anyways, the jalebi were definitely something to die for, or may be not, but definitely something that would make your trip to Jodhpur very sweet. So, those days, I could have never even thought of trying to make Jalebi at home. Years later, living away from home and seeing 3 men looking for the taste of India in pathetic Jalebi made by the Indian sweet stores here, I decided to venture and make my own.

I never have any leftovers when I make these Jalebi and most of the time they finish in a jiffy when they are fresh. So, if you are making them beforehand, I suggest you make extra. Jalebi are best when consumed fresh. These can stay upto a week, if refrigerated and for 2 days on room temperature.

Hot Milk Cake

Cakes are an integral part of our life. No matter which community, which country you belong to, cakes make a special place in our celebrations. I am not sure if I have mentioned in any of my earlier cake posts, but I belong to a house where baking kind of never existed. My mom never baked and always preferred the store bought cakes.

There was a local bakery that made super delicious cherry cake and Kaju cakes, which was very close to some branded cakes. We kind of always liked the locally made cakes better than the branded ones, reason was always the surety of freshness and not consuming preservatives. The bakery also made some wonderful plum cake for the month of December, making it a Christmas and New Year special. I have always loved all of them.

I admired some of my friends moms who would bake cakes at home. I still remember a friend whose Mom would bake cake for her birthday and she actually baked using a pressure cooker. As much as a lot of friends  felt that it is a money saving way, I always  felt that it added a very personal touch to the celebration. I always loved the idea of home baking. I believe they are fresh and taste delicious when warm with tea or coffee.

Bangalore has some lovely Iyengar bakeries and the cookies and cakes, also the buns that they make are equally scrumptious. After I got married, I was just in love with the wonderful goodies Mr. Parveez introduced me to. The wide variety offers everything for every taste bud and I have never met a person who has tried products made in those bakeries and not loved them. Hot Milk Cake happens to be one such recipe. Soft, scrumptious, not too sweet and just very airy and light. Its a perfect tea time snack.

So, With all love I have for home baked cakes, after trying the simpler cake, it was time for me to take a second step and nothing would be better then trying out one of the best recipes from an Indian bakery. And that how the Hot Milk Cake made its way to my Dastarkhaan.

The recipe is simple. Please follow the notes too before you start trying it out. There are ingredients that can be used for enhancing flavors but, using them would modify the recipe. Once you master this skill, please feel free to contact me for recipe modifications.

Gajar ka Halwa with Vanilla Ice cream

Gajar ka Halwa is our winter favorite. The lovely sweetness of carrots mixed with sugar and milk and a hint of cardamom with desi ghee leaves you taste buds asking for more.

We always loved the idea of warm Brownies and vanilla ice cream. In fact, my kids are big fans of warm brownies/ cake with Ice cream. Its a desert that they would give away their lunch for. Anyways,  Mr. Parveez happens to be almost  the same when it comes to warm Brownies with Ice cream. With time he wanted try warm halwa with cold ice cream. I wouldn’t have tried making this had it come from someone else, but since it was my biggest food fan, I had to try it.

Warm Halwa and cold ice cream is a super awesome combination. Its something you will only understand after you try it. In this recipe I am sharing the recipe for Gajar ka Halwa and how I combined it with Vanilla ice cream. You can always check the Vanilla Ice cream recipe in the Dessert/ Sweet section.

Aflatoon

My hubby hails from a family where, good food was always appreciated. God bless my father-in-law’s soul. I hear so many food stories from Mr. Parveez, that it truly amazes me on how well he has been introduced to so many delicious dishes.  He has so many different and unheard delicacies that his father brought home every now and then.

The funniest part is that my father in law never let out his secret, not even after the children grew up, not even after they got married, not even after they had children. No matter how much you ask, he would never give out the address to the places, instead he would drive by himself and get you what your heart desires to eat….So, this aflatoon happens to be one of my hubby’s favorites.

This recipe will taste quiet close to pumpkin pie, but it way less in calories and carbs. This goes great for special day breakfast or tea time. It tastes awesome with Masala chai or coffee.

Ohh!! Did you think the story ends here….NO, there is more, I have tried to make this dish almost 5 times to make it taste the way my hubby’s taste buds remember from his childhood…OK! now you think I sound crazy…Well, if you had a man who loved you so much, making him feel happy is all you would want to do…and trust me, the way to a man’s heart and to make sure his heart is your home, the path needs to be carved out through is taste buds to his belly…LOLzzz… Life is beautiful and it stays beautiful and blessed when you color it with love around you….Enjoy!!!