Instant Cashew Rabdi (Rabri)

I made this as Neivedyam for Goddess Lakshmi during Diwali. It tastes divine!

Ingredients

1 cup milk
1 cup sugar
10 cashew nuts
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
2 tbsp khoya
2 tbsp ghee
1 tsp Cardamom powder
Almonds for garnish

Preparation

Grind coconut and cashew nuts into paste with very little water and set aside. Boil milk in a heavy bottomed pan and add the coconut-cashew mix to it. On low heat keep stirring for 2 minutes till the mixture slightly cooks. To this add sugar, Khoya, cardamom powder and ghee. Keep stirring for 10-12 minutes, till the mixture thickens and all the ingredients blend well. Garnish with almonds and serve warm!!

Rasmalai and Rasgulla!!! Diwali Special

Hearty Diwali Greetings to all Neivedyam viewers!!

Thanks to Raks for the lovely recipe. It came out so well! My whole family enjoyed it. I followed her recipe step by step.

Ingredients

whole milk 1 Lit(for paneer)
1/2 lit milk (for syrup)
Lemon juice 3 tblsp
Sugar 2 cups
Water 3 cups
Cardamom powder 1/2 tsp
10 Saffron strands
Nuts for garnish

Preparation

Rasgullas
Heat 1 lit milk,when it starts boiling, add lemon juice and stir well.
Heat on low flame until the whey water clearly separates. Turn off the heat.
Take a metal strained, lined with a cheese cloth. Pour the curdled milk in it and wash it well with running water under the tap to remove the lemon smell and sourness.
Squeeze the excess water gently from the cloth and hang it for 30 minutes. After 1/2 hour,take out the crumbled paneer in a bowl. Knead the paneer for 7-10 minutes gently to make it a soft and smooth dough. Make smooth equal sized balls. Round ones for rasgullas and a little flat ones for rasmalai.
In a pressure cooker, add water and sugar to make syrup and boil it. Also add cardamom powder. To the syrup add the paneer balls carefully one after the other. Pressure cook on low flame till one whistle. Let it stay for 5 more minutes. Turn off the heat. Once the cooker cools off, you can see the paneer balls in the syrup have doubled the size.
The Rasgullas are ready and can be served chilled. But in my house it was over as soon as I opened the cooker:)
Since I was making it for the first time the shapes were a little flat like rasmalai so I made some.

For Rasmalai-
Heat 1/2 litre milk, add 1 cup sugar, saffron and cardamom powder. Bring to boil and let it thicken a little. Turn off the heat. when the milk cools a little, remove the rasgullas from the syrup and dunk them in milk garnish with nuts and serve chilled!!

Sesame-Coconut Laddu (kobbari- nuvvulu laddu) - Diwali Special

Actually I was planning to make burfis and landed up innovating this delicious laddus!! I never thought it would turn out so yum:) Ingredients 1 cup freshly grated coconut 1 cup white sesame seeds 1 cup sugar 1/2 cup water 1 tsp crushed cardamom powder 2 tsp Dry fruits 1 tsp ghee Preparation In a pan heat ghee and roast the dry fruits (cashew nuts, almonds, raisins)till golden and set aside. In the same pan add sugar and water to make sugar syrup of one strand consistency. Simultaneously heat another pan and roast sesame seeds on low heat till slightly brown. When the sesame seeds cool down grind it into powder. To the sugar syrup add grated coconut and cardamom powder. When they both blend well turn off the heat. Add the sesame seed powder and dry fruits to the mixture and fold well. Make laddus, garnish with rosted sesame seeds and serve:). Tips- If you feel the mixture is too dry and is not sticking together add 2 tbsp ghee to it. This goes to CFK- Festive food hosted by Suma.