The festival of light, Deepavali, is around the corner. The season means colourful crackers, lights, clothes and sweets. This Deepavali, how about surprising your loved ones with some chocolate-based sweets? Not only are these sweets economical, they are also easy to make.
Chocolate burfi
Ingredients
Maida: 1 cup
Soaked almond: 5
Soaked cashewnut: 5
Sugar: 1-and-a-half cup
Ghee: 1 cup
Cocoa powder: 2 tsp
Milk: 1 tbsp
Method
Sieve the maida with cocoa powder. Grind the cashew and almond with milk. Set aside. In a pan, heat ghee. Add the maida. Stir till the raw smell of the flour evaporates. Put in the cashew-almond paste and mix well. Set aside. In a pan, boil one cup water and add sugar. Boil till it attains one-string consistency. Turn off the stove and pour it into the maida mixture. Stir constantly till the mixture thickens and leaves the sides. Pour into a greased tray and cut into desired shapes when it cools.
Chocolate balls
Ingredients
Semolina: 1 cup
Sugar: 1 cup
Cocoa powder: 3 tsp
Ghee: 1-and-a-half cup
Method
Roast the semolina and powder it fine in a blender. Powder the sugar too. Next, mix the powdered sugar, cocoa powder and semolina powder together. Heat ghee in a kadai till bubbles start to form. Turn off the stove. Pour the hot ghee over the dry mixture using a spoon and mix the ingredients until it becomes a pliable mixture. Make balls out of the mixture.
Chocolate sandesh
Ingredients
Home-made paneer: 200 gm
Melted chocolate: 4 tsp
Powdered sugar: 75 gm
Powdered almond and cashewnut: 4 tsp
Maida: 2 tsp
Method
Boil one litre of milk. Add one or two teaspoonful of vinegar or curd. When the milk curdles, sieve it through a muslin cloth. Remove excess water. This is how paneer is made. Divide the paneer, sugar and maida into two portions. Mix one portion of paneer, sugar and maida in one bowl and the other portion in another bowl. Mix melted chocolate into one portion. Fold the first mixture and the second mixture till they both become pliable dough. Add the powdered almond and cashew into the non-chocolate mixture. Make a small ball with almond-cashew mixture and cover this with a bit from the chocolate mixture. Tasty sandesh is ready to be served.
