Kaju Katli /Kaju Roll /Cashew Barfi

Needless to say that Kaju Katli is one of the favorite sweets of India (probably after Gulab Jamun). I don't think I have met anyone who doesn't like Kaju Katli.

It is very commonly found in Indian sweet mart. Similar to Kaju Katli, they carry Kaju roll, Pista roll, Kesar (Saffron) roll, etc. and I love all of them equally :). The basic difference between Kaju Katli and Kaju Roll is the way it is shaped. Kaju Katli is diamond shaped thinly sliced while Kaju Roll is just rolled like a log.

Until I came across Kaju Katli recipe on one of the Facebook pages I follow, I thought it was very tedious to make and so they never made it at home in India. So I decided to give it a try and Voila! it was amazingly yummy! I followed a few recipes and came up with this...

Ingredients: 
Cashew nuts at room temp - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Water - 1/4 cup
Cardamom - 2 pinches
Rose Essence - 1/4 tspn

Procedure: 

1. Boil water and sugar together till one string consistency
2. In the meantime, grind cashew nuts to a fine powder (make sure it is at room temperature otherwise it may turn into cashew butter :D)
3. Now check for one string consistency and if it has reached that consistency, then add powdered cashew nuts, cardamom and rose essence to it and mix well
4. Turn off the gas when the mixture is a little difficult to mix in
5. Let it cool a little bit (2-4 mins of cooling time) then grease your hand with ghee or butter and knead the mixture and roll it out and cut it in diamond shape or make it like log

Variations: 
You can add saffron or silver foil on top to make it look good.

Conclusion:
It is super easy to make and comes out much better than you get in stores here. I have no idea why we don't get this good kaju katli in stores in USA.

Chocolate Nutella Mug Cake... Prep, Cook & Devour in just 5 mins!!!

It was a rainy evening and I was craving for Nutella Hot Chocolate but instead I made this really yummy, decadent and super easy cake in a mug which can be made in microwave. It takes only 5 minutes to prep, cook and devour!

My husband and I have sweet tooth and crave for dessert every night. If he doesn't find anything, he eats a chocolate or spoonfull of Nutella. One day I came across this recipe which has both Nutella and chocolate and I have been a big fan of this recipe since then. So I decided to share it with you guys so that you can make this whenever you crave for dessert :). Absolutely decadent and sooo easy to make!

Makes one mug full which can be easily finished between 4 but I would say just share with your loved one ;)

Ingredients: 
All Purpose/Self rising Flour - 4 tbspn
Sugar - 4 tbspn
Unsweetened powder - 2 tbspn
Nutella - 3 tbspn
Egg - 1
Milk - 2 tbspn
Oil - 3 tbspn
Baking Powder - 1/4 tspn (if you are using All Purpose Flour)

Procedure: 
Make sure you have a big coffee mug. Combine all ingredients and mix well. Microwave for 1.5 mins on high power (It varies based on microwave) and that's it!! Serve warm with whipped cream or ice cream.

Note: Make sure you watch it closely while it is cooking in microwave and stop it when it is nicely risen (approximately 1.5mins).

Variations: 
You can distribute it in 3-4 ramekins and cook it for 30-40 secs each. It will serve up as individual dessert cups.

Conclusion:
Really decadent chocolate cake made within minutes and devoured in seconds ;)

Sweet Potato Pudding / Ratalyacha Halwa

I fast once a year which is for Mahashivratri. We are followers of Shiva and hence we have big celebrations back home on Mahashivratri. Mom used to make Sabudana khichdi (Savory Sagoo) and Bhagar (varai). Sweet potato was one of my favorite items during fasting. I used to eat it with milk and sugar.

Sweet potato in India are not orange in color, they are yellowish. They are not as sweet as the ones you get here but they are really yummy.

On Mahashivratri, I had invited a friend of mine for dinner and I wanted to make something else other than usual things. So I decided to make 'Ratalyacha Halwa'/ 'Sweet Potato Pudding' and trust me it turned out yummmmy! You must give it a try too even if it is not Mahashivratri.

Ingredients:
Raw Sweet Potato, grated - 1.5 cup
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 4 tbspns
Ghee - 2 tbspns
Elaichi Powder - 1/4 tspn
Nuts (Pistachios, Cashewnuts, Almonds), crushed - 1 tbspn

Procedure:
Heat a pan and add ghee to it and when ghee is heated, add the grated sweet potato to it. Sauté it well until its nicely cooked (10mins maybe). Then add rest of the ingredients and cook for another 5-10mins. or till it is soft and mushy.

Variations:
I would not want to make any variations to this dish. It turned out to be so awesome that I am going to make it again soon.

Conclusion:
It was over in one go. A super hit I must say!

Scrumptious Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding

Bread pudding is one of the yummiest and not-so-fattening desserts. I love the fact that you can modify a lot in this recipe and make it as per your taste. I referred to the recipe from Epicurious and made my own changes to it. I made it thrice trying out different permutation combination and now I am posting the one I liked the best.

This one is my new favorite as it is easy to make and has a lot of protein (I cannot hog on food as much as I did during my pregnancy, so being super conscious).

Ingredients (Serves 6-8): 
Bread Slices - 8
Eggs - 3
Milk - 2 cups
White Sugar - 3/4 cup
Brown Sugar - 2 tbspns
Butter - 2 tbspns
Vanilla Extract - 1 tspn
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tspn
Milk/Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips - 1 cup
Pecan - 1/2 cup

Procedure: 

1. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F and after 5 mins place the breads in the oven for 5 mins
2. In the mean time, beat the eggs, white sugar, milk, vanilla extract, ground cinnamon together for 2-4 mins.
3. Now break 4 slices of the bread into small pieces and place them in an 8 inch baking pan. Sprinkle half the melted butter on the bread and add half the eggs mixture to it. Throw some chocolate chips and pecans on top and some brown sugar. 
4. Repeat step # 3 for the rest of the ingredients and bake it for 40-45 mins. The pudding will rise.
5. Serve it warm with vanilla ice cream.

Variations: 
I once added banana to it but my family is not a great fan of it so didn't prefer that one. If you plan to add any sweet fruit to the pudding like banana, make sure you adjust the sugar accordingly.

Conclusion:
My mom has recently joined the people on whom I experiment my food and she loved it.

Chocolate Walnut Torte

In mood for something healthy and yummy for dessert?? How perfect would the world be, if fried chicken became healthy and eating salad would count as the most unhealthy food. In search of that health+deliciousness, I thought of something similar to Almond Torte but used chocolate and walnuts instead. The Chocolate Walnut Torte is deliciously yummy and healthy. It tastes very much like Brownie but just that there is no butter and flour in it. This was made to suffice my husband's post dinner dessert cravings. I tried to follow the recipe from Elana's Pantry with the modifications as per my taste. I hope you enjoy this!!

Ingredients: 
Walnuts, coarsely ground - 1 cup
Sugar - 6 tbspns
Eggs, separated - 3
Salt - 1/2 pinch
Semi Sweet Chocolate Chips - 1/2 cup

Procedure: 

1. Grease an 8 inch pan (I used a spring form pan) and preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. In microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips stirring every 1 min (It will take only 2 minutes for the chocolate to melt). Mix it well and keep it aside.
3. Now whisk the egg yolks and 4 tbspns sugar for 2mins (till it is pale yellow in color).
4. In a clean bowl, beat the egg whites with salt till soft peaks form. Now add remaining sugar (1/2 tbspn at a time) and beat till stiff peaks form. 
5. Now mix the chocolate and walnuts in the egg yolks and then fold 1/3rd of the egg whites and mix well. Then again add another 1/3rd of the egg whites and mix well. Repeat it once again and mix the batter till it is just combined and white streaks are not seen.
6. Pour the batter in the greased pan and bake it for 20-25mins (or until the cake springs back when pressed gently).
7. Sprinkle some white powdered sugar to garnish and serve warm with some vanilla ice cream (come on, you can have one small bite of that ice cream once in a while) and / or chocolate syrup!!! 

Variations: 
You can try different sauces with it. I am planning to make a raspberry sauce which go perfectly with it.


Conclusion: 
Super delicious Chocolate Walnut Torte is done in less than an hour!  

Tiramisu - afoodiecancooktoo's First Anniversary Special

It was a foodie can cook too's first anniversary and I totally forgot about it - Yes, it was my biggest blunder ever! I posted my first blogpost on Jan 19th 2011 and I was super excited about it. I remember the first few days when I used to just think about the different things I could try and post on my blog, how I could enhance my photography skills so that the pics look more professional and so on. I even bought some nice plates and bowls and some other decorative stuff.
To make it up for the forgotten first anniversary of my blog, ,I decided to make Tiramisu and so I go and get all the ingredients and decide to make one and write the blogpost as well. But then I found some time to finally write the post and post it. Phew! It has been a very busy month.
Anyway, this Tiramisu was made sipping on some Chianti (2005) and definitely gave better results ;-). Try that some time.

Ingredients: 
Soft Lady Fingers - 24
Mascarpone Cheese - 8 oz
Whipped Cream - 1/3 cup
Vanilla essence - 1/4 tspn
Eggs, separated - 3
Sugar - 1/2 cup
Salt - a pinch
Chocolate Liquor - 2 tbspns (Optional)
Instant Coffee - 2 tbspns
Hot Water - 1.5 cups
Cocoa Powder/chocolate shavings - 2-3 tbspns
Marsala Wine - 3 tbspns (Optional)

Procedure:

1. In a big bowl, beat sugar, vanilla essence and egg yolks together for 2-3 mins or till it is pale yellow in color. Add mascarpone cheese to it and beat till it is well blended and fluffy (a min or so).
2. Mix the coffee powder in hot water till it dissolves and let it cool. You can use espresso instead.
3. Then, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt in a clean bowl with a clean beater (not even a drop of water) till stiff white peaks form. Also, in another big mixing bowl, beat the whipped cream till peaks  form.
4. Now mix the mascarpone-egg yellow mixture in whipped cream and then add 1/3rd of the beaten whites and mix well. Now fold in all the whites and just mix well.
5. Now mix the chocolate liquor and marsala wine in the coffee mixture and keep it aside,
6. In a martini glass or a bowl, place the lady fingers as a layer and sprinkle/brush the coffee+Marsala+liquor mixture and then spread an even layer of the whites+mascarpone+yellows mixture. Sprinkle cocoa powder or chocolate shavings. Repeat this once or twice more.
7. Store it in the refrigerator for at least 24hours and then DIG IN and RELISH!!!

Variations:
Feel free to make changes to this recipe and experiment with your Tiramisu. I am sure you would love the end result ;-)

Conclusion:
I invited a bunch of friends over to celebrate this occasion and Oh Boy, it got over in a few minutes ;-). It was the best Tiramisu I ever made (I have tried once before but wasn't the best attempt)

Indian Cupcakes / Sheera / Sooji ka Halwa

We were planning to visit my husband's cousin in San Diego, CA and wanted to make something for her. I had prepared Masala Dosa Batter and chutney and was going to make the sabzi (potato curry) at her place. To make it a complete meal, I wanted to take some sweet dish and I could think of 2 types of sheera: One is Ravyacha Sheera/ Sooji ka Halwa (Sapat - that's what the konkanis call it) and second was Pithacha Sheera/Aatte ka Halwa, which my mother used to make with loads of love and ghee. I ended up making Ravyacha Sheera/Sooji Ka Halwa  as I wanted to use the banana I had and Pithacha sheera would have been an experiment ( I have never made it before but I have seen my mother make it) on her and her family which comprises of herself, her husband and a cute lil dog (Sammy).

The best part of our short visit to San Diego was the Gourmet Food Truck Festival at Del Mar. It had 30-35 gourmet food trucks - Right from Naan-Stop to 'Cupcake Wars' Winner Corner Cupcakes. There were huge lines for every food truck but we still managed to get some awesome food without a loooong wait. We had some attractive Potato Tornadoes which made people stop and ask us what exactly it was(that is what even I did). We also did some crazy photo session as if I was drowning in beer glass.

Potato Tornadoes (Cajun Style held by Ram and I am holding the Sweet Potato Style)  were the 

head-turners

HEEEEELP!!! I am drowning (read enjoying) in a glass full of beer!

Ingredients: 
Rava/Sooji/Semolina - 1 cup
Ghee/Indian Butter - 5tbspn
Milk - 1 cup
Water - 1cup
Sugar - 3/4cups
Cardamom/Elaichi, Powdered- 4 pods
Cashews, chopped - 1/3 cup
Raisins - 1 Tbspn
Ripe Banana - 1

Procedure: 

1. In a pan, roast the rava/sooji, cashews and raisins for 3-5mins on medium heat, stirring constantly. Make sure you don't over-roast it and make it brown.
2. At the same time, boil the water and milk together on med heat.
3. Now slowly pour the boiling water+milk mixture over the roasted rava stirring it simultaneously. Make sure no lumps are formed.
4. Now add the sugar, mashed ripe banana and the ghee and mix it well and shut it with the lid. Let it cook for 4-5mins on med-low heat.
5. Lastly, add the elaichi powder and mix it and serve warm or cold.

Variations: 
Remember that the Rava : (Milk+Water) proportion has to be 1:2. So you can vary it to make more water less milk or vice versa (I prefer it more milk and less water).
Also, you can roast cashews and raisins separately in butter and then add it to sheera after step # 3.

Conclusion:

It was very yummy, low in sugar (as everyone prefers less sugar now a days) and super moist Sheera. Even Sammy enjoyed a small morsel :).

Rice Pudding/Rice Kheer/Narali Bhaat

Happy Gudi Padva/Ugadi to one and all. I know I am a little late for that but that is when I made the Rice kheer. My mother makes a variety of rice kheer and I love all of them.

'Rakshabandhan' or Rakhi Pornima and Narali Pornima are celebrated with Narali bhaat at my place. I used to wait for Rakhi Pornima just to hog on the narali bhaat, and the gift ofcourse.
On the occasion of Gudi Padva, which was a Monday, I wanted to cook a full meal with some sweet and I had all the ingrdients handy for Narali Bhaat :). The menu for Gudi Padva was Paneer Bhurji, Daal Fry, Lachcha Paratha, Rice and Narali Bhaat.

Ingredients:
Rice - 1/2 cup
Condensed Milk - 1 small can
Coconut Milk - 1 cup
Milk - 1 cup
Cardamom/Elaichi Powder - 1/2 tspn
Cashews, chopped - 7-8
Shredded Coconut - 1/2 cup

Procedure:

1. Overcook the rice with more water to make it mushy.
2. Add coconut milk, condensed milk and cashews to the rice and cook it for 10 minutes on med-high heat till it is thick in consistency.
3. Now grind coconut, and some rice and cashews together and add it to the kheer.
4. Now add the milk and some sugar if need be and cook for another 5-8mins.
5. Add Elaichi and Kesar (Optional) and serve chilled.

Variations: 
You can add almonds instead of cashews and it will still taste great. Also, if you do not have condensed milk, no worries add sugar as per your taste and cook the mixture for some more time.

Conclusion:

Yummilicious kheer or Narali Bhaat. We ate it for 3 days and still I am craving for some as I am writing this.

Kesar Rasmalai

Rasmalai is one of the desserts always present on the wedding menu. My best friend, Rakhi, and I always wished that all wedding dinners had this on the menu. We were tired of eating Gulab Jamuns and needed a change.
Rasmalai is basically a combination of Rabdi and Rasgulla (without the water.) I, being a milk-lover, love rasmalai and every form of it i.e. angoor rabdi, rasgulla,etc. I made some extra Rasmalai so that I could take them to office for my colleagues to taste. I was surprised with the result I got. It was just AWESOME!

Ingredients for Rasgulla: 
Milk - 4 cups
Lime Juice - 1/4 cups
Sugar - 1 1/2 cups
Water - 3 cups
Baking Soda - 1/4 pinch
Muslin Cloth

Ingredients for Ras/Rabdi:
Milk - 3 cups
Sugar - 6 tbspn
Condensed Milk - 2 tbspn
Corn Flour - 3 tspn
Kesar/Saffron - 2 pinches
Cashews - 4
Pistachios for garnishing
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 tspn
Water

Procedure:
To make Rasgullas - 

1. Boil milk in a heavy bottomed-pan and stir it once in a while. In the meantime, mix lime juice in a cup of water and keep aside.
2. Once the milk starts boiling, add the lime juice and water mixture to it and stir till the milk curdles. If it doesn't curdle, add some more lime juice to the milk. Now the curd is separating from the whey.
3. Now turn off the heat and drain the whey using a strainer lined with muslin cloth/cotton cloth.
4. Now rinse the curd in muslin cloth under cold water so that the lemony taste is gone. Make sure the water passes well through the curd.
5. Now wrap the muslin cloth tight and squeeze the excess water out. Keep the tightly squeezed curd wrapped in the cloth for an hour under pressure (I used the pot in which I boiled the milk as a weight).
6. Check if enough water is drained from the paneer by taking a small lump and rubbing it on the palms for a minute. If a smooth ball (Without cracks) is formed after this step, then it is perfect.
7. Now take out the paneer and knead it with the soda for 5 minutes and then make 1/2" smooth firm patties (Press lightly). They must be small in size as the rasgullas double in size after they are cooked in the cooker. 
8. Now start boiling the water and sugar mixture on high heat in a cooker and then add the patties to it. Make sure the cooker is large enough to accomodate all the rasgullas. 
9. Cook the rasgullas on High heat until the cooker starts steaming. Now reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for another 8-10 minutes and then turn off the heat.
10. Once the pressure is gone, open the cooker and remove the patties and squeeze a little to remove the excess syrup and keep them aside.

To make Ras/Rabdi -

1. Boil the 3 cups of milk in a heavy-bottomed pan stirring frequently. Once it starts boiling, add sugar and condensed milk to it.
2. Now mix corn starch with a tablespoon of water and make sure no lumps are formed. Make it a smooth paste and add it to the milk stirring very quickly for 2-4 minutes. Then add the powdered cashew nuts as well.
3. Now boil the milk till it is 2/3rd  of its volume or till it is thick enough. Now add Kesar/Saffron and cardamom powder to the saturated milk and add the Rasgullas to it and boil for 2-4 minutes and turn off the heat.
4. Garnish the Rasmalai with Pistachios and Saffron and serve chilled.

Variations:
If the rasgullas break or do not come as you thought they should have, do not worry as it would taste great in the rabdi. You can vary by adding some fruits like grapes, pomegranate etc to enhance the taste.

Conclusion:

I am having the Rasmalai the third time as I am typing this. Needless to say, it is YUMMMM!!!

White Chocolate Creme Brulee (for 6)

We came across an upscale restaurant in LA which has a Pan Asian Fusion cuisine with a very promising menu and a lovely ambience. When my nephew was born, my husband and I celebrated it in that restaurant. We also celebrated my Mom-Dad's anniversary when they were visiting us and a friend's birthday who was visiting us from Washington D.C. So its been a celebration place for us.
In every celebration, the one thing common was the Creme Brulee platter from the dessert menu. The platter consisted of Classic, Mango and Spicy Chocolate Creme Brulee. All three types were really delicious and I wanted to try it out at home. Thanks to internet, I could find the enticing recipe to try out. I made my own modifications and tried out a couple of times with variations. I hope you all like it too!

Ingredients:
Heavy Cream - 2 cups
Large Egg Yolks - 5
White Chocolate chips - 1 cup
Sugar - 1/3 cup + 2 tbspn
Vanilla Extract - 1/2 tspn

Method of Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, bring the heavy cream to simmer over a medium-high heat.
3. Now add the chocolate chips to it and whisk till it melts completely. Keep it aside to cool.
4. Now whisk (On medium speed) the egg yolks and 1/3 cup sugar in a bowl till it becomes smooth (2-3 mins).
5. Now add 2 tablespoons of chocolate and heavy cream mixture to it and whisk it. make sure the egg is not scrambled.
6. Repeat step 5 with all the chocolate and heavy cream mixture till it is smooth. Wait till the foam/lather is gone.
7. Now divide the mixture in 6 ramekins (5oz-sized) and arrange the ramekins in a double boiler inside the oven making sure the ramekins sit in 1-1 1/2 inches of water.
8. Bake for over an hour (60-80 minutes) until the mixture is set.
9. Let the ramekins cool inside the double boiler for 15mins and then refrigerate it for 4 hours atleast.
10. Just before serving, sprinkle the sugar on top of the custard and spread it by shaking it and place it under the broiler for 2-3 mins. Make sure it does not burn.
11. You can refrigerate it for 15-20 mins and serve chilled.

Variations:
 I have not tried it, but you can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate chips instead of the white chocolate chips.

Conclusion:
Yummmmmy White Chocolate Creme Brulee was a big hit and similar to what I tasted in the restaurant. An easy dessert with a different taste.

Dark Chocolate Coated Strawberries

Recently, I kind of became famous for my cakes and cupcakes and few of my friends demanded for some. I took it as an opportunity to improve my decorating skills. I wanted to make fresh strawberry frosting and I needed only one strawberry, but the stores sell a whole basket. So I had to buy them and think of making something out of them.
Luckily, my husband's cousin and her husband were visiting us in LA (For the first time). And I thought of making some chocolate dipped strawberries for them.

Ingredients:
Big-sized strawberries - 12
Good Quality Dark chocolate (Chopped/ chips) - 2 ounces
Good Quality White chocolate (Chopped/ chips) - 1/2 ounce
Butter - 1/2 tspn + 1/4 tspn
Parchment Paper

Method of Preparation:

1. Wash some big sized strawberries and dry them well and keep them aside.
2. Put the butter and chocolate together in a microwaveable bowl (Prefer to use glass bowl) and microwave it for a minute on med heat.
3. Take it out and stir it and repeat step 2 till the chocolate is completely melted.
4. OR
5. On a double boiler, melt the chocolate and butter till chocolate is completely melted.
6. Now hold the stem of the strawberry and dip them in the molten chocolate and place it on a parchment paper
7. Now in similar way,  you can melt white chocolate and using a fork, just garnish the strawberries (I did not do this step as I ended up burning the chocolate as I did not use the microwaveable bowls)
8. Place them in the refrigerator and relish them after an hour or so.

Variation:

You can use milk chocolate or any other type of chocolate.

If you don't have butter, you can directly melt the chocolate chips without it and it will still taste the same.

Conclusion:

Strawberries put to good use and an amazing desert made in minutes.