It is almost time for Diwali, which I could argue is the biggest event celebrated across the country in India by people of varying faiths. With that comes the need to start thinking about the sweets that will be made!

Whilst it is a Hindu festival, Diwali today is celebrated more for the fun, games and incredible food. The festival is celebrated with plenty of parties, family events, dancing and in some communities it is tradition to play games of poker.

What is Diwali?

Diwali, also known as Deepavali or Divali, is the festival of Lights celebrated by many religious communities across South Asia. Usually celebrated over 5 days, Diwali is always associated with the Goddess of Laxmi (the Goddess of Wealth) and her arrival into our homes. The lights and lamps that are lit up are to guide her right into our homes on this day – my dad would get very mad if I switched any of them off!

The festival of lights is also associated with the day that Ram (an incarnation of the God Vishnu, the preserver as part of the Hindu Supreme Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh) returned to his home Ayodhya with wife Sita and brother Lakshman after defeating the evil King Ravan.

In Sikhism, Diwali is celebrated as Bandi Chhor Divas which commemorates the day that Guru Hargobind (The sixth Guru of Sikhs) was released from Gwalior Fort after Emperor Jahangir has imprisoned him for several months. The celebration often includes the recitation of Akhand Paath (a reading of Guru Granth Sahib), Nagar Keertan (processions in the street), and fireworks. Learn more about Sikhism here.

In Jainism, Diwali is the date that Mahavir attained absolute liberation. Whilst Hindu and Sikh celebrations have some fanfare, Jain celebration are based on the principle of Ahinsa (or non violence). As a result fireworks are not a typically display during Diwali celebrations and instead opt to decorate the home and temples with lights and diyas, and the sharing of sweets. Some Jains also fast for 2 days in remembrance of the sacrifice of Mahavir. The Jain new year also commences the day after Diwali. Learn more about Jainism here.

The 5 days of Diwali

Diwali refers to the 5 day period of celebration which goes as follows

Dhanteras

Dhanteras is typically celebrated with the giving of gifts to loved ones. In scriptures it is said to be the day that the God of Ayurveda imparted the wisdom of Ayurvedic practices to the World.

Legend has it that when the Sumudra Manthan was performed, Dhanvantari (God of Ayurveda and an incarnation of Vishnu) emerged with the elixir. Another legend follows that the King Hima predicted his death on the 4th day of his marriage. To combat this, his wife laid out as much gold, silver and other ornaments as possible, and did not let her husband sleep. When the Lord of Death (Yama) arrived he was dazzled by the ornaments and instead sat there listening to the stories the Kinds wife was reciting. He then silently left.

As a result this day is celebrated with the giving of gifts, in particular clothing, gold and ornaments.

Narak Chaturdashi or Choti Diwali

This day celebrates the day that the Demon (Asura) Naraka was killed by the Goddess Mahakali. The day is celebrated the day before Diwali or Lakshmi Puja with lights, songs and dancing.

Lakshmi Puja or Diwali

The main day of Diwali is celebrated with the biggest of shows. There are fireworks, and firecrackers, as well as dancing, music and delicious food served up to guests and worshippers. On this day it is said that Lakshmi enters our house using the lights as a guide, and brings us and our families happiness, wealth and prosperity.

Bali Pratipada

Also known as Bali Padwa (Maharashtra), Bali Padyami (Karnataka), Barlaj (Himachal Pradesh), Raja Bali (Jammu) and Gujrati and Marwari New Year.

On this day, worshippers celebrate the annual return of Mahabali to Earth and the victory of Vamana (the 5th Vishnu incarnation). As with the rest of the days in Diwali, this day is celebrated with food, music and dancing.

Bhai Dooj

Also known as Bhau Beez, this day celebrates the relationship between a brother and sister. The day in particular focuses on the duty of the brother to protect his sister. I never really celebrated this day myself at home as I don’t have any brothers.

How is Diwali Celebrated?

Each family has their own way of celebrating Diwali, and every culture and custom will differ. What I cam sharing here is simply a few things that my own family would do to celebrate. This article from the Times of India shares a few different traditions to celebrate!

Typically Diwali would feature some gifts amongst the family, always featuring some new clothing to wear on the day of Diwali in particular. We would spend the week prior preparing at least 10 different sweets and savoury items including the sweets listed below, and then some more! The home would be decorated, and the 2 weeks prior we would engage in a huge spring clean. Rangoli (drawings on the floor using rice flour and colour) would be drawn at the entrances to the home, and a garland using mango leaves and marigold flowers would be hung up over the door.

On the day of Diwali we would wake up extra early to apply a herbal paste called ubtan which would be mixed with oil and applied like a scrub on our whole bodies. My father would make a mixture called Panchamrut made of milk, honey, ghee, yogurt, and sugar topped with some Tulsi which would be used after the ubtan. Finally we would cleanse using water (and soap of course!). We would always be required to wash our hair that morning as well.

These traditions are incredibly dear to me, and I love the way in which my father observes them all. While in High School and University I felt as if I couldn’t enjoy much of the celebrations of Diwali here in Australia owing to the exam season that would always be around the same time. After graduating however, my role in Diwali has become completely about the sweets!

Not only do I make the bulk of them, I also get the chance to experiment and try some new, interesting and traditional recipes. To be completely honest with you, nothing gives me greater joy!

My Top 10 Diwali Sweets

1. Malpua

This is my ultimate favourite Indian sweet to make. There is a bit of effort and resting time required but my gosh is it worth the time and energy! Malpua is a sweet, fried pancake particularly popular in Rajasthan. It is made with a batter comprising of four, jaggery and/or sugar, fennel, cardamom and saffron. The pancake is then soaked in sugar syrup laced with rose and cardamom.

Find my recipe right here.

2. Gulab Jamun

Name a more iconic Indian sweet! Sweet fried dumplings all soaking in a delicious rose and cardamom syrup. Honestly, Gulab Jamun to me is everything luxury and brings me all the beautiful memories of family, friends and festivals. If there is a dessert you absolutely must try making at home, it is this one.

The trick to making perfect Gulab Jamun is to master the art of cooking the jamun/dumplings low and slow in the oil. This makes sure that the balls have cooked through completely, don’t burn on the outside and still develop a beautifully browned exterior. By ensuring the dough is cooked right through you will create the perfect sponge for the syrup which is so so important to make this dessert!

My recipe makes roughly 30 small Gulab Jamun balls.

3. Almond & Saffron Barfi

One of the simplest but most widely consumed Indian sweets for you to make, Almond & Saffron Barfi is a real crowd pleaser. Barfi is such a great recipe to make a huge batch of. I often double up the recipe to make a really large amount because it is so easy to distribute barfi among friends and family. To do so, simply cut up the barfi into bite size squares and serve in decorate boxes for your family, friends and Diwali guests.

Barfi is also one of the best Indian sweets to distribute in the office or to your neighbours!

Have a go at my recipe right here

4. Shahi Shakharpare / Champakali

Another Diwali classic, these are delicious sugar coated fried biscuits. Whilst at home we would make a slightly less intricate version of this recipe, featuring a sweet dough, Shahi Shakarpare take this to the absolute next level. There is a bit of technique required to get the perfect leaf shaped folds to your biscuits, but once you get the hang of it these do not take long to make at all.

My recipe will make about 30 biscuits and can be stored in an airtight container for up to a month!

5. Mango & Coconut Barfi

Mango and Coconut is such an iconic South Asian combination. Call me biased, but India genuinely has the most incredible Mangoes in the world – in particular the Alphonso mango from the Konkan region.

I digress.

My mango and coconut barfi is a total family favorite and it features in every single one of my family events. These work perfectly as barfi squares, little pedas (or small flattened ball shapes like coins) or even can be used in molds like I have (the shape I have used below are Modak shapes for Ganpati!).

6. Atte ka Halwa

Also known as Kara Prashad, Atte Ka Halwa is a wholewheat pudding served usually at Sikh temples and religious events. I used to look forward to visiting the Gurudwara especially to be able to get my hands on some of the halwa. It would be dripping in ghee and full of deliciousness. My version of this recipe isn’t quite as rich and loaded with ghee and sugar, but still tastes incredible.

7. Shahi Tukda

This is what I call my signature dessert.

I do so because this is the first Indian sweet that I spent hours and hours of my time developing. The story behind this is from many years ago when a dear family friend refused to share her recipe to make Shahi Tukda. So I decided to make my own version!

I’ve tried this recipe with regular white bread, whole meal bread, brioche, croissants… you name it! I personally believe the best results come with using whole meal bread. This recipe is great to make ahead (the day before is perfect!) and serve up after the bread has had it’s time to soak up all the beautifully flavoured custard.

Find my recipe right here!

8. Beetroot Halwa

Not much beats the stunning flavour and colour of this Beetroot Halwa. Whilst I believe this is the best dessert to be made for Holi (the festival of Color), I couldn’t pass up sharing it for Diwali too! It’s perfect for every season in my opinion.

This recipe was part of my cooking class series earlier this year (2021) and was loved by everyone too! I use a hint of rose to complement the rich earthy beetroot flavour. Trust me it makes a world of difference.

9. Rasgulla

Homemade Rasgulla are 1000% better than what you can find in prepackaged containers. Trust me.

Whenever someone gifted our family a container, I would absolutely dread having to open it. The overly sweet syrup and crust that would form on the dumplings would be far too much for me to handle. The result would be hard rasgullas that would cause anyone tooth pain.

This recipe is great for a small batch of 8 rasgulla and coms together super easily. Similar to Gulab Jamun and Shahi Tukda, I recommend making this at least one day ahead to let the rasgulla dumplings soak up the syrup completely!

10. Milk Barfi

One of the most viewed recipes on the website is my Milk Barfi recipe. Truth be told this is a cheat’s version that can be made super quickly and is great to make when you have guests coming over and you simply don’t have the time!

Similar to the mango & coconut barfi, and the saffron & almond barfi, this one can also be made into barfi squares, pedas (flattened ball shaped like coins) or even can be shaped using a mold. I usually make this barfi about 10 times in the year for all sorts of festivals and happy occasions, and is one of the most requested items by my family and friends.

I hope you find everything you need to prepare for the festive season in my post. I absolutely love seeing all your recipe attempts! Be sure to share your photos with me via Instagram by tagging me @theminiaturelife. Leave me a comment below with any comments or feedback – I love hearing your thoughts.

The post How to make the BEST Diwali Sweets first appeared on The Miniature Life.

What is Rasgulla?

Whilst the true origin of Rasgulla remains in contention, the basic make-up of this fabulous dessert differs very little (if at all) across India and Bangladesh. Quite simply, Rasgulla is a milk based dumpling made from Chenna. The dumplings are then boiled and soaked in a delicious sugar syrup. This syrup is often flavoured using rose (petals or water), orange blossom water, kewra (screw pine water), cardamom or even saffron.

Making Chenna

The first part of this recipe is to prepare Chenna, or strained milk solids. It’s quite straight forward to make at home, and I highly recommend doing so instead of opting for store purchased. My recipe makes enough Chenna to prepare 8 rasgullas which is enough for about 4 people.

You can prepare Chenna beforehand and keep it in the fridge for about a week, but fresh made Chenna is the best to use every time.

What milk should I use?

Full. Cream. Milk.

I’m talking packed with fat, cream and all the goodness. You won’t be able to make good quality Paneer or Chenna using anything less. Unfortunately there isn’t an adequate plant based substitute to get you the same result.

Boiling the Milk

What seems like an easy task can actually be very difficult. Whilst boiling the milk you need to be extra careful to ensure that the milk doesn’t burn (particularly at the base of the pot) and to make sure the milk does not boil over. Both of these things can occur quite easily if you don’t watch the pot carefully. The best way to prevent burning the milk or boiling the milk over is to keep a close eye on the pot and stir the contents continuously using a spatula or wooden spoon. Once the milk reaches a rolling boil, it is time to move on to curdling the milk

Not many people realise that Paneer and Chenna is made by curdling full cream milk. To do this we need to simply squeeze some lemon juice into the boiling milk and stir it through. Depending on the acidity of the lemon and the milk you are using, the amount of lemon juice required will vary. Only add as much as is required to cause the solids to float to the top of the pot.

Typically for 1 litre of milk, I require the juice of 1 and a half lemons to get the solids floating. Too much lemon and there will be a strong acidic flavour to your paneer/chenna so be careful not to add too much!

Straining the Chenna

Aside from getting the curdling perfect, the straining component to making the Chenna is extremely important. To strain the curdled milk you will need a cheesecloth.

I use this one from Amazon, but there are plenty of other options available online. You can also find cheesecloths at Target.

If you cannot source a cheesecloth, there are a couple of substitutes. This article from Spruce Eats provides some good information on alternatives. The best substitutes for cheesecloth for this recipe are a sheet of cotton fabric (which is what we used at home! We legitimately had a cotton fabric dedicated for straining of yogurt and chenna/paneer), CLEAN pantyhose, a very fine mesh sieve or a very fine mesh bag.

Once you have the material to strain the liquid, you need the right set up. Pour the curdled milk (solids and whey liquid) into the cheesecloth (or alternative) with a large bowl to collect the whey liquid. You can also do this first step over the sink. Now you need to tie the cheesecloth (or alternative) onto a large wooden spoon or stick such that you can set this rod over the diameter of the large bowl and raise the cloth with its contents. This will allow the excess liquid to continue to drain away.

Kneading the Chenna

For making Chenna, you don’t need to strain the solids for too long. I normally leave it to strain for roughly 1 hour because for the purposes of preparing the Chenna, you need just a little bit of moisture. After the 1 hour, I gently squeeze out any further liquid and remove the solids in the cheesecloth onto a plate or into a bowl.

Now it’s time to knead! You could do this with a dough hook attachment in a stand mixer, but by hand is also fine. Depending on the amount of Chenna you have collected this could take anywhere between 15 minutes to half an hour. Here we are trying to make the crumbly solids into one smooth and homogenous dough-like ball.

Making the Rasgulla

Chenna Balls & Syrup

Roll the prepared Chenna into small balls. My recipe should yield about 8 small balls. These shouldn’t be overly large as they do expand during the boiling process. Once these are ready, set them aside under a damp tea towel and move on to making the sugar syrup.

For the rasgulla you need a really thin sugar syrup working with a 1:4 ratio of sugar to water. This is quite unlike a regular sugar syrup that uses a 1:1 ratio with the result quite rich. In this case all we need to do is bring the mixture to a gentle boil and then add in the Chenna balls. These are cooked in the syrup, and remain in the syrup to cool to infuse. Now my recipe is a little unique in that I like to flavour my syrup with cardamom and some rose water or orange blossom water or kewra (depending on how I feel that day I make it!), but these are basically optional. Rasgulla can be made just with a simple syrup mixture and still taste amazing.

Tips & Tricks

What seems like a very daunting sweet to make is actually very very simple. The trick is in perfecting the Chenna and getting that beautifully smooth texture after kneading it through. To get this recipe perfect every time here are my top tips

1. Take your time to boil the milk – There are no points for taking shortcuts here. Boil the milk low and slow and keep watching the pot to make sure nothing spills over. This happens so quickly! If the milk is boiled at a higher temperature you can easily cause the milk to burn, and trust me there is nothing worse than burnt milk.
2. Slowly add the lemon to boiled milk – adding 1 tbsp. at a time is crucial. Each time you add lemon wait for 10-15 seconds such that you can see if the milk curdles and the solids float. Remember, too much lemon will flavour the curdled milk which is the last thing you want!
3. Knead the Chenna smooth – This might take some time, but you need to give it all the time it needs. Sometimes the process is quick and sometimes it takes me a while to knead the Chenna into a smooth dough. The humidity and ambient temperature has a huge impact so don’t tell time prescribe this. Let the feeling of the dough govern the time needed
4. Boil the Rasgulla for at least 15 minutes – Whilst they might seem ready to remove, and they may appear like they have doubled, but you absolutely need to give the rasgulla plenty of time in the syrup.
5. Let the Rasgulla chill for at least 2 hours – Let the Rasgulla absorb as much of the syrup as possible before serving them up! This will ensure that the Rasgulla are beautifully soft and spongy.
6. Let the Rasgulla reach room temperature before serving – again, this is super important so that the Rasgulla isn’t hardened or cold when you eat it. It should be at room temperature for the best experience!

Let’s make Rasgulla

Rasgulla

The Miniature Life

Here's my recipe for one of my favourite Indian sweets.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Bangladeshi, Indian

Servings 4 people

Equipment

• Pot
• Wooden spoon or Spatula

Ingredients

  

• 1 Litre Full cream Milk
• 2 lemons, juiced
• 4 cups water
• 1 cup water
• 2 cardamom pods
• 2 tsp rose water, orange blossom water or kewra water
• ½ tsp cornflour optional

Instructions

 

• Prepare a muslin cloth over a big bowl and set this aside
• Pour the milk into a large saucepan and big this to a boil, gently. Stir the pot continuously and keep watching the pot to make sure it doesn't overflow
• Once the milk is boiling, add the juice of the lemons roughly 1tbsp at a time. The amount you need will depend on the acid in the lemons itself. Stop adding the lemon juice when you see the solids rise to the top and clump together
• Pour the contents of the saucepot into the prepared bowl lined with the muslin cloth then lift up the muslin cloth to drain off the liquid
• Tie the muslin cloth to your kitchen tap to drain off, or tie around a wooden spoon that extends over a bowl to allow it to drain off.
• Let this drain for a minimum of 3 hours, up to 8 hours
• After draining, remove the contents of the muslin cloth and turn out into a bowl or plate
• Gently knead the contents of the muslin cloth until you make a smooth dough like ball. If you want to create a a bit more stability in the chenna you can choose to add some cornflour to help maintain the chenna. Once the ball is ready, the Chenna is ready for use
• Roll small balls of the Chenna and set aside under a cloth until you are ready to use cook them. You should be able to make roughly 8 small balls.
• In another pot, combine the sugar, water, cardamom (after gently crushing) and rose water or orange blossom water or kewra. Heat this through until boiling and let the mixture boil through for about 5 minutes
• Add the prepared balls of Chenna into the boiling sugar syrup being sure not to crowd the pot. Let the Chenna balls boil in the syrup for 15-20 minutes until they float to the top and have almost doubled in size
• Once ready, remove the Rasgullas and the syrup into a container or serving bowl and set in the fridge until ready to serve
• To serve, remove the rasgulla from the fridge at least 10 minutes before serving

Keyword Indian Food, Indian Sweet

And that is how you make the perfect Rasgulla, every single time. Like I said, it is quite an easy recipe but you just need to be patient and trust me when I say that homemade tastes infinitely better.

As always leave me a comment below and share your photos with me @theminiaturelife on Instagram!

The post How to make Rasgulla first appeared on The Miniature Life.

But I am getting ahead of myself.

Okay.

This is it.

This is THE recipe.

Here is my absolutely delicious, foolproof and easy way to make delicious soft naan right at home.

First things first.

What is Naan?

Naan is a leavened flatbread traditionally cooked in an earthen pot called a Tandoor. Famous for it’s charred flavour, burnt bits, and beautifully soft texture, Naan is perhaps the most well known export from South Asia behind Butter Chicken. Naan is especially popular in North Indian and Pakistani cooking and is perfect to pair with rich and creamy curries, dahls and chutneys.

I must admit at this point, that to this date, one of my favourite snacks is a cheese stuffed Naan with loads of ghee and garlic. Absolutely NOTHING can beat it.

But we don’t have a Tandoor?

Of course not everyone has access to a Tandoor. Nor do I! This doesn’t mean you cannot make AMAZING Naan at home (Dare I say, make the Best naan at home!). I simply make do with what I have at home. Ideally what you need to create is a very hot environment for the Naan to cook and eventually char. I have tried this numerous different ways and I have come up with what I think are the best methods –

1. On a flat pan/tava

This is probably the easiest way to cook the Naan and doesn’t require any special equipment apart from a pair of tongs to help you pick up the Naan from the pan. This allows you to carefully place the Naan over the open gas flame (if you have a gas stove!) and develop lovely char.

2. In an oven, with a baking stone

I find this to be the most fiddly, but still yields absolutely delicious Naan. All you need to do is pre heat your oven and baking stone to 230 degrees Celsius for at least 1 hour (yup!! you want this to get really hot!). Once ready, roll out your naan and very carefully place onto the baking stone. The naan will take just about a few minutes each side to cook. Note that this method won’t give you super charred bits, but will still brown the naan really well.

3. On a grill/BBQ

Oh yes you will get some charred and Smokey flavour with this method, as well as some fun grill lines! The deal here is simple, pop the the naan after rolling onto the grill (do this carefully! We don’t want dough falling through the grill) and leave it there for a minute or so until you are able to easily lift up the naan. Flip over and finish cooking. Easy does it!

What makes Naan different to Pita?

In essence the two are actually quite similar – soft, pillow-y breads that have a bit of charred colour to them.

Naan, however, has some yogurt in the recipe which makes the dough a bit tart and acidic. The result is a bit more bite and richer bread flavour than Pita bread.

Now, could you just use pita bread where a recipe says serve with Naan. Sure – again, they are so similar! Or you can follow my easy recipe and not worry about it at all.

How to make Naan Bread?

Firstly, it’s not Naan bread. I’ve deliberately written that to capture common search phrases. It is just Naan, and that directly refers to the soft flatbread.

To make the naan we simply start with combining lukewarm water, lukewarm milk, sugar and yeast. We set this aside to bloom for at least 10 minutes until you see a nice thick layer of foam. Super important to let your yeast bloom and feed off the sugar prior to mixing everything together. This step will ensure your dough rises and leaves you with soft, pillow-y naan.

In the meantime, combine your dry ingredients. My recipe uses a little bit of ground garlic powder and onion seeds which are completely optional but I find gives the naan beautiful flavour. To this add the vegetable oil, yogurt and then the bloomed yeast mixture and use a dough hook on your stand mixer to knead for at least 5 minutes. You can also do this by hand for roughly 10 minutes. Be sure to add more flour to the dough if it seems sticky – it should come together nicely into 1 ball that isn’t tacky to touch.

Once the dough has come together, simply rub some vegetable oil or ghee between your palms and then spread over the dough before returning it to a bowl to rest with a lid or tea towel covering it. Rest the dough for at least 1 hour or until the dough has doubled in size. If it is particularly cold, simply let the dough rise in the oven that has been pre-warmed.

Now work out whether you are using the oven or the BBQ/grill or a flat pan. If using the oven with baking stone, now is the time to start pre-heating your oven (or when you have about 1 hour to spare before serving). If using a grill or BBQ, make sure you have enough prep time before you cook the naans such that the grill or BBQ is nice and hot and ready to cook the naan. Thankfully the flat pan method has minimal prep!

Preparing to Cook the Naan

After the dough has rested, place the dough onto a floured surface and punch out all of the air . Knead the dough by hand for a couple of minutes. Now if you want perfectly sized naan, weigh out your dough and then divide this by 5. Weigh out 5 equal balls or simply roll 5 equal looking balls. Roll these out into circles roughly 0.5 cm (1/8 inch) thick and set aside for a couple of minutes.

If you are using the flat-pan method, now is the time to pre-heat that. While the dough rests for a little bit, prepare your brushing mixture of ghee or butter (or both), some freshly grated garlic and fresh coriander leaves (chopped fine).

Take your rolled out dough and place over the flat pan, baking stone, or grill and cook for a couple of minutes until you see bubbles form. Use tongs to flip the naan over onto the baking stone or grill, but if you are using a flatpan use the tongs to directly expose the uncooked side of the naan to the flame of your gas stove. If you don’t have a gas stove, simply turn over on the flat pan.

Get ready to serve!

Remove the hot naan and place onto a plate or serving basket, then brush generously with the prepared ghee/butter mixture. Your home should honestly smell so incredible at this point! Continue until you’ve made all of your naan.

Here is my recipe

This recipe follows using the flat-pan or Tava, but read above for details on using an oven or a BBQ.

The BEST Naan

The Miniature Life

Soft, pillow-y naan right in the comfort of your home

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 3 minutes mins

Course Side Dish

Cuisine Indian

Servings 5 naans

Equipment

• Stand Mixer
• Rolling Pin

Ingredients

  

• 220 g plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 125 ml warm water
• 8 g sugar
• 4.5 g instant yeast
• 22 ml warm milk
• 1 tbsp. full fat yogurt
• 1/4 tsp onion seeds
• 1.5 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp. ghee
• 1/2 tsp chopped coriander
• 1/4 tsp ground garlic powder

Instructions

 

• Combine the warm water, warm milk, sugar and yeast. Whisk this together for 30 seconds and then set aside for at least 10 minutes until frothy
• Combine the flour, salt, onion seeds, yeast mixture, yogurt, oil, and the garlic powder if using
• Use the dough hook attachment of your stand mixer and knead the dough for 5 minutes. You can do this by hand as well – it will take about 10 minutes. Add 1/2 tsp of flour at a time if the dough isn't coming together. Knead the dough until it forms one big ball
• Spread a small amount of ghee or butter over your palms and gently coat the dough with it. Place back into a bowl and cover with a lid or damp tea towel. Let the dough rest for a minimm of 1 hr or until dobuled in size
• After the dough has doubled, turn the dough out onto a floured space and punch the air out. Knead the doug well then weigh ot the dough – it should be between 400-420g
• Make 5 equal balls (mine are usually between 80-85g) and set under a tea towel
• Use a rolling pin to roll the dough ball into a circle roughly 0.5cm (1/8 inch) in thickness and set aside to rest. Roll out the remaining 4 balls and keep aside for 5 minutes
• Heat up a flat pan/tawa over medium high heat
• White the pan heats up, melt the ghee or butter and add the chopped coriander and garlic. Set this aside
• Lift one of the circles of dough and place onto the flat pan. Let the Naan cook for a minute of or until you see bubbled form before lifting it using tongs and flipping over (if you do not have a gas stove) or flipping onto the flames directly (if you do have a gas stove) to develop charred bits. Use the tongs to move the naan around over the flames to get an even char before removing and setting aside onto a plate
• Brush the Naan immediately with the prepared ghee or butter mixture and repeat step 10 and 11 until all 5 naans are cooked
• Serve hot with your favourite curry or make an easy wrap

Keyword Naan

And there you have it! Serve up your naan with your favourite Indian food like butter chicken, dahl, kadhi, or literally anything. On a boring and lazy Sunday you will see me make a batch of these and make some wraps at home with leftovers I have. The possibilities are endless!

As always, please comment below if you enjoyed my recipe and be sure to share your photos with me on Instagram @theminiaturelife. Also DM me your photos because otherwise, if your profile is private, I just won’t be able to see them.

The post How to make the BEST Naan first appeared on The Miniature Life.

The weather in Sydney right now sucks. I mean it is truly a strange summer season. We went from horrendous bushfires ravaging our country exactly 12 months ago, to a broken drought, flash storms, and days and days of wet weather.

So unlike this city!

But rainy weather always gives rise to some really amazing recipes to warm up the soul even if you have the weird warm rains of summer.

So here is my experiment gone AMAZING with my Khatte Dahi Baignan.

This recipe is actually perfect for the rainy season, and even better on a hot day because the yoghurt acts to really cool everything. As a result the dish is actually served at room temperature. Even better is the layering of the recipe that kind of makes it look a bit like a lasagna – this step really isn’t necessary but it adds a nice touch to serving.

What is Khatte Dahi Baingan?

The word ‘Khatte’ translates to sour which comes from the tamarind used in this recipe, and the words ‘Dahi’ and ‘Baingan’ translates to yogurt and eggplant respectively. What we have in this recipe is a tangy combination made up of three components, 1. the eggplant 2. the yoghurt and 3. the masala mixture

Let’s start by talking about the masala mixture.

Made with onions and a wonderful blend of both whole and ground spices, it’s the masala that gives the eggplant and this dish it’s tangy flavour. I like to use tamarind to bring out that tart flavour but if you cannot find any I suggest using more dried mango powder. If neither can be sourced you can use tart tomatoes, along with 1/2 tsp of tomato paste to give it that rich flavour.

Part 2 is the yoghurt.

To the yoghurt we add some salt, sugar and water. This helps to balance out the natural flavour of yoghurt (remember that often yogurt can be very sour!) and helps to loosen the consistency a little making it easy to drizzle and layer the yogurt. The quantities in the recipe are per what I require usually, but have a taste of the yoghurt first before adding anything. Depending on the day, the heat levels, where you live, where the yoghurt is sourced and how it was made the flavour and texture of the yogurt will differ significantly. It’s important to go by the flavour of the yoghurt and slowly build up to a flavour profile you like. Some people prefer things a bit sweeter and other a bit salty. For me and what I think works best for this recipe is simply a neutral flavour – this balances the tartness from the masala

And Finally the eggplant.

The star ingredient is certainly the eggplant. We start by giving these a bit of a pan fry until they start to turn crispy and golden. I’ve used regular eggplant for this recipe but for a more easthetic result you can absolutely slice discs of small eggplant or the asian eggplants too. Flavour wise you are not compromising on anything, just be mindful of varying water content – the small eggplant will turn color a lot quicker as a result.

The spices used in this recipe aren’t too different from most of the standard Indian recipes. The formula usually contains Turmeric, Chilli, Cumin, and Coriander. We elevate these with some asafetida and dried mango powder (or Amchur). I like to dry toast these in the fry pan along with the onions over a low heat setting. This brings out the beautiful earthy flavours just a bit more before mixing everything through properly with the onions. What makes this recipe really wonderful is a combination of spices called Panch Phoron.

What is Panch Phoron?

Panch Phoron literally means 5 spices and is made up of fenugreek seeds, nigella seeds, whole cumin seeds, whole mustard seeds and fennel seeds. Combined these form the basis of many eastern Indian recipes. This is a really easy mix that I actually love using to make so many recipes, right from spiced scrambled eggs to the tempering for my dahl. A little bottle of this handy is key to the Indian kitchen.

Find my recipe for Panch Phoron right here!

So let’s make Khate Dhai Baingan

Here is my recipe card – it’s fool proof and works absolutely every time.

Print

Khate Dahi Baingan

What we have in this recipe is a tangy combination made up of three components, 1. the eggplant 2. the yoghurt and 3. the masala mixture

Course Main Course

Cuisine Indian

Keyword dinner, eggplant, indian, main, vegetarian, yogurt

Servings 4

Ingredients

Eggplant

• 1 eggplant or 500g baby eggplant

Masala

• 1 tsp panch phoron
• 1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp dried mango powder
• 1 tsp tamarind concertrate
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• ½ tsp chillie powder
• ¼ tsp ground tumeric
• ¼ tsp garam masala
• ¼ tsp salt

Yogurt

• 1 cup yogurt
• ¼ tsp sugar
• ¼ cup water

Tadka

• 1½ tbsp vegetable oil
• ¼ tsp panch phoron
• 2 dried red chillies
• 2-6 curry leaves
• pinch asfoetida

Instructions

• Start by preparing the the yogurt mixture by cominbing all the ingredients together with a whisk. You can add some more water if the yogurt is extremely thick
• Chop the eggplant into small roundels or into quarters
• Heat some vegetable oil in a fry pan over a medium high heat and cook the eggplant in batches until they are slightly browned on both sides turning them after a few minutes. Do not salt the eggplant! Adding salt will release moisture, and we want the eggplant to stay dry
• Set the cooked eggplant aside on some paper towel to cool slightly
• To prepare the masala, clean the fry pan with a paper towl to reme any
• Add the panch phoron and let the whole spices sizzle and sputter slightly
• Add all of the chopped onions and a oinch of salt. Sweat the onions until they start to become translucent. If the onions appear to start burning, make sure you lower the heat
• Once the onions are soft and translucent, add the ginger garlic paste and remaining spices and stire through really well. Cook until the raw smell of the ginger and garlic has cooked off
• Add in the tamarind and tomato paste with a splash of water and stir this tthrough really well. Continue to cook the mixture until the raw smell of the taomato paste has cooked off. Taste hte mixture for salt and spice and adjust as needed and add a teaspoon of water at a time if the mixtuer drys out too quickly or starts to burn
• Once the masala mixture is cooked, set aside ready for layering
• In a serving bowl or tray layer the 3 components, starting with a thin layer of yogurt, followed by a thing layer of the masala mixture, then slices of the eggplant to cover the masala. Repeat the 3 layers until you finish all the ingredients. Try to finish up with the masala and yogurt on top!
• Now let's prepare the tadka by heating the oil in a small tadka pot or small pot
• Add the panch phoron, asfoetida, dried red chilli and curry leaves using a lid as a shield to prevent any sputtering of the hot oil. The tadka shouldn't take long to prepare and is complete once you hear the crackling and sputtering of the seeds
• Pour the hot oil and it's contents all over the layered dish/bowl/tray and carefully set the pot aside
• Serve as is with some rice or flatbread. I love pairing this direcipe with a really spicy item – the yogurt and tang offer lovely balance to the hea of other recipes.

I hope you enjoyed this recipe just as much as I love making it. This has very quickly become my husbands favourite way to eat eggplants and is a monthly feature in our kitchen. Khate Dahi Baignan is absolutely wonderful on those nights where you just want something simple but really wholesome.

As always please let me know if you liked the recipe by leaving a comment below and sharing all of our photos with me @theminiaturelife (be sure to send me a DM after tagging me to make sure that I can see the photo!)

The post How to make Khatte Dahi Baingan first appeared on The Miniature Life.

My recipe pays homage to my Grandmothers recipe. She would send us a little bag of these each year while she could all the way from India. It was a January air mail letter every year that brought plenty of tears and joy to the family. With age these letters slowed, and unfortunately she passed away a few years ago. This day in the calendar for me is very special because it brings me all those wonderful memories of her. The few times I was in India during the festival I would sit with her to make these and it is possibly my favourite memory of her.

To kick start the recipe we toast the sesame seeds in a heavy bottom ban or non-stick pan until golden brown and super fragrant. You don’t need any oil in the pain. In fact the sesame seeds start releasing their own oil as they get heated up in the pan. We are aiming to toast off the raw flavour of the sesame, while also enhancing the natural flavour the seeds have. You need to do this over the lowest heat setting possible and be extremely patient with the seeds by constantly stirring them around the pan using a wooden spoon or spatula. If they remain idle in one spot they can start to brown and burn really quickly. You have to keep your eye on the pan here!

Once they are ready simply remove them into a bowl and set it aside.

Next we prepare our jaggery. Jaggery is such a wonderful ingredient used in South Asian cooking and it’s not just used in sweets! You can get plenty of types of jaggery in the markets, but for this I recommend using one of the softer varieties or try and get your hands on “Chikki Gud” also known as “Chikki Gul”, or the jaggery used to make brittle. I always chop up the jaggery either with a knife or by grating it so that it melts down quickly in a pan such that the base parts will not burn.

Now we melt down the jaggery. Again this should be done over a very low heat setting while continuously mixing the contents using either a spatula or wooden spoon. At this point it’s important to keep a small glass of water with you right by the pan. We will be using this glass to test the consistency of the jaggery. Once the jaggery starts to turn a lighter color and develop what almost looks like a foam, while bubbling, drop a little bit of the jaggery into the glass. If it solidifies instantly, and after pressing the drop between two fingers it flattens, you have the perfect jaggery mixture.

Now immediately add the toasted sesame seeds, and the poppy seeds and mix until it all comes together to form a sticky ball. Once it has started to clump together and the jaggery has bound to all the seeds, turn the heat off and add the cardamom. I like a bit of a cardamom punch so I add the full amount, but if you aren’t sure, start with a little and work your way up and adjust the amount according to your taste. Set the pan aside.

You have to work quickly with the ladoo because once the jaggery starts to cool, it solidifies and becomes extremely difficult to roll. As soon as the mixture is cool enough for you to touch, apply some ghee to your palms and take a small chunk of the sesame jaggery mixture and roll in your palms. Once a ball shape is formed set this down in a plate. I usually line my plate with some baking paper to avoid any sticking. Rest the ladoo for roughly 20-30 minutes or until completely cool (make sure you do this in a cool dry spot and not in the fridge!) before serving!

As always I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I love making the ladoo! Please share all of your creations with me @theminiaturelife!

The post How to make Til ke Ladoo first appeared on The Miniature Life.

But, when you smell that frying flour, jaggery and fennel mixture – it is truly heaven on Earth.

I first came across Malpua in Rajasthan while my family was travelling in a tour group. I still remember wondering how to make it at home and met with a lot of annoyance from my mother because apparently making it was ‘too difficult’

So began my attempts a few years later to make malpua at home, that was not only delicious but actually very easy to make. There are different variations of Malpua, with the different regions in the Indian subcontinent adding different ingredients. Some parts make malpua using fresh banana or pineapple, while others don’t add any whatsoever. My recipe is a combination of my mother-in-laws recipe, the wonderful recipe by Peter Kuruvita in his book “Lands of the Curry Leaf“ and a lot of research with other desi mothers I have had the privilege to learn from.

What is Malpua?

Malpua is quite simply a sweet pancake. There are many variations to the recipes, but typically the batter is prepared using flour, water, jaggery, fennel, cardamom and saffron. I find the use of brown sugar really deepens the flavour while also allowing the pancake to crisp up while frying in ghee.

This sweet is mostly famous in the Northern and Western regions of India and is often made during Diwali and Holi. It’s the sort of sweet that is served hot with something cold on top and is a total crowd favourite. You often find fresh malpua stations at weddings in India, with large queues waiting.

How to make Malpua?

To make my version of malpua, we first need to thin the yogurt with a little bit of water. The yogurt balances the overall sweetness of the malpua, providing a touch of sour and acts as the leavening agent along with the baking powder. The yogurt is then whisked with the flour, crushed jaggery (always crush this before hand), brown sugar, fennel, cardamom powder, baking powder and saffron. Water helps to combine everything well to a smooth(ish) mixture which then needs to be rested for at least 5 hours, up to 8 hours.

If you plan on making malpua for a dinner party, prepare the batter at least 8 hours before you intend on completing your main course.

After the batter is well rested, but with roughly 20 minutes to spare, it is time to prepare the sugar syrup. If you plan on making this ahead of time, remember to heat up the syrup 5 minutes before dipping any of the fried malpua into it otherwise the syrup will be far too thick to use.

To prepare the sugar syrup, simply heat all the syrup ingredients over a medium high heat. This should take about 15 minutes, until the syrup is thick and can easily be dropped into tap water and retain its shape. Once prepared, set the syrup aside to cool for about 5 minutes.

Now we heat our ghee or vegetable oil ready for frying. Before scooping any batter, mix the batter through to make sure there are no lumps and do a check of the consistency. The batter should be pourable and a texture like thickened cream (not as thick as double cream, and not as thin as custard or milk). Use a ladle to scoop the batter to form a pancake shape in the oil and let the malpua fry for a couple of minutes before gently flipping over. In total the malpua will take about 5 minutes in the oil to become golden brown and crispy.

Once the malpua is cooked, use a slotted spoon or tongs to remove it from the oil and dip into the sugar syrup. Coat the malpua well then side aside on a serving tray or plate to cool.

And now you are ready to serve! I love topped my malpua with chopped pistachios, some rose petals, silver foil, and then a really massive scoop of good quality vanilla bean ice cream (nothing beats it!). Traditionally however, this would be served with some chilled rabri.

Here is my delicous recipe for the perfect malpua. As always, let me know how you go with my recipe and be sure to share your photos with me @theminiaturelife on Instagram.

Malpua

The Miniature Life

Sweet fennel, cardamom and saffron laced pancakes

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Prep Time 8 hours hrs

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 20 malpua

Equipment

• Deep fryer or small pot
• Mixing bowl
• Slotted spoon
• Saucepot

Ingredients

  

For the Malpua

• 150 g plain flour
• 190 g jaggery, finely crushed or chopped available at South Asian grocers
• 50 g brown sugar
• ¼ tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp whole fennel seeds
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• large pinch of saffron strands
• 125 mL warm milk
• 70 g yogurt
• ½ tsp water at room temperature
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup water at room temperature to make the batter
• ghee or vegetable oil for frying

For the Sugar Syrup

• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white sugar
• 4-5 cardamom pods
• ½ tsp rose water OR orange blossom water OR Kewra essence available at supermarkets, fresh food grocers and South Asian grocers

Instructions

 

• Add the ½ tsp of water to the yogurt and whisk until smooth
• In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, jaggery, brown sugar, baking powder, fennel seeds, ground cardamom, saffron, milk, whisked yogurt, and salt using a whisk until smooth. There may be a few little lumps of jaggery which is okay – this will dissolve while the batter rests
• Set the bowl aside, and cover with a lid or plastic wrap. Leave this to rest for 5-8 hours
• With 20 minutes to go for the batter to ret, start preparing the sugar syrup. Simply combine all the ingredients for the syrup into a small saucepot and gently heat over a medium-high heat. Swirl the pot every few minutes
• Continue to mix the syrup mixture until you get a 2 strand consistency. To test, gently cool a small amount of the syrup and use your thumb and index finger to pinch a small amount. Separate your thumb and index finger slowly. If a thin clear strand forms that is roughly 1-2 cm in length the sugar syrup is ready. Alternatively drop a small ball of syrup into tap water. If the ball retains its shape in the water, the syrup is ready for use. Let the syrup cool slightly
• In a small pot or deep fryer heat your ghee or vegetable oil to 160°C/320°F or until a small chunk of bread forms bubbles around it after adding to the oil
• Use a ladle to mix the prepared malpua batter making sure there are no lumps. The mixture should be relatively runny but not milk-like.
• Now, use the ladle to scoop the mixture into the hot oil. Be very careful here as the oil is very hot. I recommend using a pot lid to protect your face while dropping the mixture into the oil
• Let the malpua fry for 2-3 minutes before using a slotted spoon or tongs to flip the malpua over and continue frying until crispy and golden brown
• Remove the malpua and dip into the prepared sugar syrup, then set aside in a plate or serving dish
• Top with chopped nuts, silver foil and some rose petals. Serve hot with some ice cream, custard or rabri

Keyword Dessert, Malpua, Pancake

The post How to Make Malpua first appeared on The Miniature Life.

My recipe is a combination of my mother-in-law’s version and a few tweaks and changes that I have tested well. I’ve learnt a few secrets to getting the perfect jamuns

• Cook low and slow! This is important to ensure you get a beautiful golden color, without crisping the outside of the balls. By doing this you will also make sure the inside is perfectly cooked through.

• Smooth dough. It’s extremely important that the dough is smooth and doesn’t dry out and crack. If the dough starts to crack while rolling, go ahead an add a 1/4 tsp of milk (at a time) to help add back moisture.

• Humidity and Dryness. This is a comment more than a tip. The humidity in the air will alter the needs of the recipe particularly since there is ghee, cream and flour involved. In dry weather, this recipe will likely require additional cream, while if it is very humid, you may find less cream is required. Add the cream in small portions to that you can control this!

• Ensure the sugar syrup is completely cooled. Fresh fried jamuns can go into the cool syrup, but you cannot drop the jamuns into the hot syrup.

• Sticky syrup! There are a couple of ways to test the syrup. The first – dip a spoon into the syrup a drop a little droplet in cool water. If the syrup drop keeps shape and sinks, the syrup is ready. The second method – dip the spoon into the syrup, remove and let the syrup cool until you can touch it. Pinch the syrup between your index finger and thumb. If you can make a clear string of syrup roughly 0.5 cm to 1 cm then the syrup is ready.

Here is the recipe card! Gulab Jamun is a surprisingly simple recipe in essence, BUT there is also a large margin to make errors. Be sure to take your time and read through the card before committing to the process. Give yourself ample time and space to work on the recipe.

Gulab Jamun

The Miniature Life

Gulab Jamun is a surprisingly simple recipe in essence, BUT there is also a large margin to make errors. Be sure to take your time and read through the card before committing to the process.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 40 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 30

Ingredients

  

The Dough

• 1/2 cup full cream milk powder
• 1/4 cup plain flour
• 3 tbsp full fat cream
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• Ghee or vegetable oil for frying

The Syrup

• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3-4 pods cardamom pods lightly crushed
• 1/2 tsp rose water
• 1/4 tsp fresh lime juice
• toppings crushed pistachio, rose petals, and/or silver foil

Instructions

 

• Prepare the syrup first by heating the sugar, water, saffron and cardamom together in a saucepot over a low heat setting. Don't stir the pot or disturb the contents, and let this bubble and form a thick sugar syrup. To test if it is done, dip in a spoon to collect some syrup and let it cool on the spoon. Pinch the syrup between your thumb and index finger – if you can form a clean string 0.5 cm to 1 cm in length then your syrup is ready
• Once the syrup is ready, add the rose water and lime and stir. Set this aside to cool completely
• In the meantime prepare the dough. Start by mixing together the milk pwder, flour, baking powder and ghee until you get a crumbly mixture somewwhat resembling sand
• Slowly add the cream, 1 tbsp at a time and gently knead it through. The dough should be shiny and ready smooth with no cracks. Depending on the heat and humidity you may require more or less of the cream, so carefully add this in! If the dough is too dry, add 1/2 tsp of cream additional at a time until the dough comes together without cracks
• Brush the dough with a very small amount of ghee (enough to just lightly coat the surface) and keep the dough under a damp tea towel. This dough doesn't need to rest, but it should not dry out while making the dough balls
• Using your hands, roll the dough into small dough balls roughly 1 tsp to 1 tbsp in size and set under the damp towel while you continue
• Prepare a plate with baking paper over it to collect the fried dough balls
• Heat the ghee or oil in a pot or kadhai until hot, over a medium heat. Use a small piece of dough (hardly a drop in size) to test the oil heat. If the dough starts to cook immediately and bubbled form, the oil is ready. At this point reduce the heat of the pot to a low heat setting. The trick is to cook low and slow.
• Gently lower the dough balls into the oil. I usually place them carefully into my deep fryer/strainer and then lower them together into the pot. Don't overcrowd the pot otherwise the oil will cool down
• Cook the dough balls for roughly 3-6 minutes, until a light to deep brown color. Ensure they do not burn, so continuously turn this in the pot for even cooking.
• Remove the dough balls from the oil, strain and set on the prepared plate with baking paper to collect excess oil and cook down
• Let these cool for at least 5-10 minutes. On a colder night 5 minutes will be enough!
• Once the dough balls and syrup are cooled completely, add the dough balls to the syrup to soak up the rose, cardamom and saffron goodness for at least 2 hours, but ideally for 8 hours
• To serve the Gulab Jamun you can heat these up gently in a microwave to become warm, or serve at room temperature with some silver foil to garnish alongside some rose petals and pistachios

Keyword Dessert, gulab, indian, Indian Sweet, jamun

The post How to make Gulab Jamun first appeared on The Miniature Life.

Barfi can be made with many different ingredients complimenting the milk. Badam aur Kesar (literally translates to Almond and Saffron) barfi is a classic combination that is incredibly well-known and widely loved across the region. The traditional flavours make this combination a common sweet at religious and cultural events, and the pairing is subtle enough to serve to anyone.

Traditionally made by boiling down milk and sugar for hours, my recipe uses the BEST hack ever – condensed milk!. It means this barfi comes together in no time whatsoever and is perfect for those last minute guests that need a sweet treat. This particular one is the go-to recipe that my parents always request!

To get the most flavourful barfi, make sure you let the saffron soak in the milk prior to preparing anything else. This will let the saffron color and flavour infuse the milk and give you a wonderful cohesive flavour profile through the barfi. I also use almond meal for a really smooth texture, but you could absolutely use coarsely ground almonds instead for more of a bite and crunch to the barfi.

The next major tip – always use full cream! You will have a deliciously creamy barfi. Skim or light milk powder yields a bit of a fudgy consistency that gets stuck in the teeth. Cut these into small enough bite sizes and no one will complain!

Check out the recipe card here! Be sure to share your photos with me via Instagram @theminiaturelife

Badam Kesar Barfi

The Miniature Life

How to make a true staple of Indian sweets – Badam Kesar Barfi

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 16

Ingredients

  

• 2½ cup Full cream milk powder
• 1 can condensed milk (400 ml)
• 4 tbsp almond meal
• 1 large pinch of saffron
• ¼ tsp ground cardamom
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 1 tsp full cream milk
• Toppings Crushed pistachio, rose petals, chocolate drizzle, chopped almonds

Instructions

 

• Add the saffron to the milk and set aside
• Melt the ghee in a kadhai or non-stick pan over a low heat
• Add the condensed milk to the ghee and mix using a wooden spoon or spatula until the ghee and milk have made a smooth mixture
• Add almond meal to the mixture and mix through until smooth
• Add the milk and saffron mixture, and ground cardamom and mix until smooth
• Gently pour in the milk powder and continuously stir with a wooden spoon or spatula until the mixture forms a thick dough
• Carefully monitor the heat and ensure the mixture does not caramelise. Remove the pan immediately from the heat and continue to move the dough around the pan if it starts to burn. This will prevent further cooking and burning
• Set the pan aside
• Line a baking tray or casserole with baking paper. This will make it easy to remove the barfi and also prevent the need to use a knife against the container surfaces
• Press the barfi mixture into the prepared baking dish or casserole and smooth out the surface using your palms, the spatula or even a small bowl
• Gently press in the toppings you are using. If using a chocolate drizzle, ensure the barfi has cooled COMPELTELY before topping the barfi
• Set the barfi aside to cool to room temperature, then place in the fridge for 1 – 2 hours
• Remove from the fridge and remove the barfi from the baking trya or casserole. Use a sharp knife to slice the barfi into desired shapes. I typically grease the knife with a tiny touch of ghee to prevent sticking
• Serve barfi at room temperature, but store them in the fridge (since it is a milk product!)

Keyword almond, badam, barfi, indian, Indian Sweet, kesar, milk

The post How to make Almond Saffron Barfi first appeared on The Miniature Life.

There are two key components to this recipe. The sesame seeds and the white poppy seeds.

By toasting the sesame seeds, you release some of the beautifully scented oil and the flavour develops to be even more intense and nutty. This compliments the dates so well and ensures a really rounded result in the ladoo.

The secret ingredient in this recipe is the white poppy seeds. A lot of recipes won’t include the humble white poppy, but it is such a game changer in Indian sweets. Trust me you won’t ever go back after trying this recipe.

I might be sharing these for Diwali, but these are amazing any time of the year. I love these as a little energy pick me up, and we always keep some Medjool dates on hand to whip these up. To make these into a workout snack, I recommend adding a few more medjool dates, and some protein powder – I think chocolate works best in this recipe!

You could also serve these as a tea time snack.

Okay let’s be honest. These just work at every moment of every day.

Here is the recipe card! If you enjoy the recipe, be sure to tag me @theminiaturelife on Instagram and leave me a comment below.

Date & Sesame Ladoo

The Miniature Life

Delicately flavoured with cardamom, these date and sesame balls are the perfect healthy alternative to rich Indian sweets

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 20

Ingredients

  

• 300 g Medjool dates
• 1 tbsp ghee
• 3/4 cup white sesame seeds reserve some extra when rolling
• 1/4 cup poppy seeds
• 3-4 pods cardamom
• optional 1/4 cup of roughly chopped nuts

Instructions

 

• In a pan, toast the sesame seeds until they turn lightly golden brown and are fragrant. Set these aside to cool completely
• In a small food processor or grinder, blend the sesame seeds, poppy seeds and cardamom until it forms a fine powder
• In a pan, heat the ghee (or coconut oil) over a low to medium heat
• Add the dates into the pan and use a wooden spoon to break the dates apart. Continue to mix until they form a smooth paste
• Turn the heat off, and add the prepared powder to the dates. Use the wooden spoon to mix through well
• Set the mixture aside to cool. It's okay if the mixture isn't smooth. If you are using chopped nuts, add these in now and mix through
• After 5 minutes of resting, the mixture should be cool enough to touch. Knead the mixture gently until it forms a smooth cohesive mixture
• Roll the dough into small ball, roughly 1 tbsp to 1.5 tbsp in size
• Roll some of the balls in the extra sesame seeds, then set this aside on a plate to set completely
• Serve fresh, and store them in an airtight container in a cool place

Keyword indian, sesame, sweets

The post How to make Date Sesame Ladoo first appeared on The Miniature Life.

Diwali in my house means a whole LOT of sweets, and each year I do my best to create something new and fun to add to our sweets ensemble. Keeping with tradition, my family makes 7 different sweets to celebrate the wonderful festival of lights. Here is my recipe to make shahi shakharpare

A quick Diwali story –

Diwali is the celebration of light celebrated throughout South Asia. It is the classic holiday which remembers the good in people, happiness and the triumph of light over dark, and good over evil. In Hindu mythology it is the day that Lord Ram returned to his Kingdom of Ayodhya (in Uttar Pradesh in Northern India) with his brother Lakshman and his wife Sita whom he rescued from Ravan the king in Sri Lanka.

To celebrate all these things we make loads of sweets, a few savoury items, light lamps (diyas) in our homes and decorate the house with floral designs (rangoli/kolam), flowers and loads of colour. It’s my absolute favourite festival of the year

The name Shahi Shakharpare literally means Royal Sugar Biscuit. These are fried and then soaked in a yummy sugar syrup before getting topped with crushed pistachio and silver foil. These are DEFINITELY a little bit luxe purely because of the effort needed to shape these cute biscuits. You have to make each one individually – don’t worry, these will only be made once in the year in my house. The other name, Champakali, which is what this sweet is called in Maharashtra (my home region in India) means bud of the Champa flower owing to the bud-like shape of the sweet.

The syrup is something special too. I use a simple syrup recipe (1 part sugar, and 1 part water) but elevate this using some fresh cardamom pods, rose water and a touch of lime juice. The cardamom and rose are what makes this syrup and sweets super flavourful. The lime juice compliments the sweetness, and it just completes the sweet. Trust me, you won’t go back!

To make these sweets, start by making the dough and letting it rest for 20-30 minutes to let the gluten develop.

To make these bud shapes, take a small ball of dough roughly one inch in diameter. Roll out the dough into an oval shape roughly 2mm thick (optional, but to get a clean result, cut this into a rectangle). The oval shape is important!

Let’s call the short sides B1 and B2 and the long sides A1 and A2.

Now, using a knife make slits through the dough leaving half a centimeter on each side, going across the short side of the rectangle (i.e. parallel to B1 and B2). Remember, the aim is to get slits in the dough, but not slice it up.

Now, use a bit of water along the edges of the dough, and pick up one short end and fold it over to join to the other (i.e. pick up B1 and fold it to B2). Repeat this one more time. To complete this, pinch one side (the A side!).

At this point the slits should should more or less line up, so that they can easily separate. Use your fingers to create a little window, by creating a parting in the slits. Now loop the non-pinched side through this partition and roll this through and then pinch the end!.

Here is the recipe card to follow. My recipe will make roughly 25-30 bud shapes, depending on how large you make the dough balls. You will make a bit of extra syrup, but I save this! When serving these I do a quick dip in the syrup again and then top these with pistachios. Never. Waste. The. Syrup!

Shahi Shakharpare

The Miniature Life

Shahi Shakharpare a great indian sweet to impress the guests or to give to family and friends during Diwali

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 50 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Indian

Servings 30

Ingredients

  

The Dough

• 500 g plain flour
• 200 g ghee
• pinch salt
• 1 cup chilled water
• Ghee for frying

Syrup

• 1 cup caster sugar
• 1 cup water
• 3-4 cardamom pods
• 1/2 tsp rose water
• 1/4 tsp fresh lime juice
• toppings – crushed pistachio, rose petals and or silver foil

Instructions

 

• Sift flour into a large bowl for kneading
• Add salt, and ghee to the flour
• Use your hands to work the ghee into the flour until the mixture resembles loose sand
• Gently add some of the chilled water, roughly 2 tbsp at a time and knead the dough. Continue to add water until the dough just starts to form and is no longer sticky
• Brush the dough with a very small amount of ghee (enough to just lightly coat the surface) and set the dough aside in the bowl under a damp tea towel for 20 to 30 minutes.
• In the meantime, prepare the sugar syrup by adding the sugar and water to a pot over low-medium heat
• Don't mix the syrup otherwise the sugar will crystalise, but watch the pot closely to prevent burning and sputtering
• Add the cardamom pods once the sugar is all dissolved
• Continue to boil the syrup until it is ready. Dip a spoon into the syrup and drop a small smount of the syrup into cool water. If it sinks and retains the ball shape, the syrup is ready. Alternatively cool the syrup slighty on the spoon and use your index finger to pick some of the syrup up. Press your thumb against your index finger and seperate – if the syrup is forming clear strings that hold for at least 1 cm, the syrup is ready
• Remove the syrup off the heat, and add the rose water and lime juice. Set this aside to cool completely
• After the dough has rested completly, roll out an inch diameter large ball into an oval shape. It is optional to trim the sides to make a rectange
• Name the short edges B1 and B2 and the long edges A1 and A2.
• Use a small sharp knife to cut slits through the dough, parallel to the B edges. These slits should start 0.5 centimeters from the edge and end 0.5 centimeters from the edge
• Dab some water along the edges (both A's and B's
• Pick up the B2 side and join this edge with B1. Repeat this one more time
• Now pinch the A1 side (which is now folded up so it is shorter than what you began with) to form a little peak
• If you position this pinched peak at the top of your board/working space, the slits should now run vertically. Use your fingers to seperate the slits to create a hold, and two sections. Loop the un-pinched side through this hole and gently pull it through to create the 'knotted look'. Now pinch the un-pinched side and you should have a shape that resembled a flower bud or a leaf
• Set the prepared shape aside under a damp towel, and repeat the steps with all of the dough. Save a small 1 cm piece of dough to test the oil temperature
• Heat ghee or vegetable oil in a Kadhai, deep fryer, or deep pot
• Test the oil to see if it is ready for frying by dropping a small piece of dough (I use half of the reserved dough from above). The oil is ready if bubbles start to form immediately around the dough once it has been dropped into the oil
• Gently drop the prepared dough shapes into the pot/kadhai. I typically cook 4-5 at a time, but this will depend on your pot size. Do not overcrowd the pot and make sure you regulate the temperature. If the dough starts cooking too quickly and immediately turns brown, turn the heat off and remove all the dough pieces to allow the oil to cool before continuing. This is important to stop anything from burning
• Fry the shapes until they are beautifully golden brown and set aside on some kitchen paper to help soak up excess oil. Let these cool completely to room temperature
• Once the fried shapes have cooled, soak these in the sugar syrup for 30 seconds, before removing them and setting aside on a plate. Sometimes I re-soak the Champakali if I feel they haven't soaked up much of the syrup
• When ready to serve, top the Champakali with chopped pistachios, some rose petals and some silver foil (if you find it!)

Keyword cakes, Dessert, diwali, indian, sweets

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