Wheat halwa
Ingredients:
Wheat rawa – 2 and a half cups
Sugar – 4 cups
A pinch of kesari powder
Ghee – 2 cups
Cardamoms, powdered – 8
Cashew nuts – 8 to 10
Water – 6 glasses, boiling
Milk – 1 tbsp
Method:
Soak rawa for two hours and grind to a fine paste. Extract the milk and keep for another two hours. In a thick bottomed vessel take sugar, add one cup water and boil. When it boils to one thread consistency add 1 tbsp milk and skim the foam that settles on the top. Add the wheat rawa, milk, simmer and boil. Stir continuously; add kesari powder mixed with little water. When it starts thickening add boiling water, one glass at a time and stir. Do so when it thickens each time and add ghee little by little in between. Add all the six glasses of water and the remaining ghee in this manner. When it becomes thick add cardamom powder. When the ghee starts oozing and when the halwa starts leaving the sides, pour over a greased plate.
Sprinkle cashew nut bits and press gently at the top. Cut into pieces and keep.
Tri-colour burfi
Ingredients
Coconut, grated and ground – 2 large
Sugar - double the quantity of the grated coconut
Orange and green edible colours
A few drops of rose essence
Butter for greasing – 1 tsp
Fried nuts for decoration
Method
Grind the coconut and divide the ground coconut into equal parts for the 3 layers.
To prepare the first layer, take one part of the coconut and double the quantity of sugar. Make one-thread consistency syrup with the sugar in a heavy bottomed pan. Add the ground coconut and keep stirring on a medium flame (use a wooden spoon preferably). Mix the green colour in a little water and add. When the mixture starts leaving the sides of the pan pour onto a flat bottomed buttered tray. Spread evenly. Allow to set and cool. Meanwhile prepare the second layer of the coconut using the same method as before. This time you need not add any colour. When it is done, pour over the green coloured mixture, spread evenly and quickly with the back of a spoon. As the second layer is cooling, prepare the third part of the coconut with the orange colour and spread it evenly over the second layer. When cool cut square pieces with a sharp knife and press in fried cashew nut pieces.
Milk peda
Ingredients
Milk - 1 litre
Sugar – 100 gms, powdered
Cardamoms - 2
Pistachios - 4
Rose water - 1tsp
Khoya - 125 gm
Method
Boil milk to condensed milk consistency, cooking continuously in an open pan on high flame. Add powdered sugar, khoya, rose water and cardamoms, and continue to cook till the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. Shape into milk pedas, pressing a pista on each one.
