Diwali Sweets- Microwave Pedas

When it comes to make a home away from home, one needs to be ingenuous. Being away from India we try new ways to refresh old memories. Indian festivals are marked by the sheer color and gaiety celebrated with tons of sweets. Diwali in India means lights, fireworks and sweets. There we can get some of the best sweets very easily at affordable prices at the sweet shop next door. No one thinks of making pedas at home in India, because making it from scratch is a grueling process requiring hours of stirring and mixing.

Thanks to microwave cooking, I made some real good pedas to mark my second Diwali in US. The process is really easy and hardly takes 10 mins. I took the original idea from here.

Dry Milk (Milk Powder) - 2 cups (150gm)
Sweetened Condensed Milk - 1, 14oz can (396gm)
Unsalted Butter - 1, 4oz stick
pinch of saffron
1/2 tspn cardamom powder
small pieces of almonds, pistachios

Put the butter in a microwave dish and heat it in a microwave till it melts.
Add milk powder and condensed milk to melted butter and mix.
Microwave on high for 3 minutes, stirring well after every minute.
Add crushed saffron and cardamom powder and mix well.
Let it cool a little then apply little butter to hands and make a small ball from the mix.
Decorate with almond and pistachio pieces.
Set on a greased plate. The scrumptious pedas are ready to be enjoyed !!

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Chakli

On my last visit to India my Mom gave me the Chakli press. Chakli or muruku has a special place in my memories of Diwali celebrations as a kid. It is a crunchy, yummy deep-fried snack. Mom used to make loads of these and we could never have enough. The Chakli press is used to make the spiral shape, but if you don't have one you can also use the icing bag with the star nozzle. This Diwali, I made these snacks to refresh childhood memories. I was never an expert at making these, but my chakli press made it very easy. The result was a wonderfully tasty snack which was devoured by my husband in batches, who calls it "Phirki"! Thank you Mom, for all the wonderful treats you made us and the inspiration that you are for me!

Here's what you'll need:

• Rice flour 3 cups
• Butter 1/2 cup
• Urad daal 1/2 cup
• Cumin seeds (jeera) 1 tspn
• Sesame seeds (Til) 1 tspn
• Oil for frying
• Salt to taste
• Milk/water

Roast the urad dal to a light brown and then make a powder of it. Mix the urad powder and rice flour and add melted warm(not hot) butter to it. Incorporate the butter nicely into the flour mixture and then add cumin,sesame and salt to taste. Now add milk or water to it slowly to make dough like the chapati dough. The dough should not be very soft.


Heat the oil in a deep frying vessel. Fill the dough in the chakli press mold(or pastry bag) and use the star-shaped plate to make spiral shapes on a butter paper or plastic. Check the heat of the oil by dropping a piece of dough, if it sizzles and floats on top, the oil is ready. Drop the chakli shapes carefully in this hot oil and keep frying on a medium-high till they are golden brown and look crispy.




Drain on a paper towel and cool before storing them in air-tight containers. These have a shelf-life of up to a month. Serve with tea or eat whenever you have a craving for a crispy snack.

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