Atta Halwa (Whole Wheat Fudge)

Prasadam (offering to Gods) used to be an incentive which kept us hooked to religious poojas as kids. Mom would make mouth-watering sweets full of goodness for almost all main poojas.
Halwa with lots of nuts makes a great sweet dish at festivities be it the more popular carrot, semolina and Doodhi(bottle gourd) halwa or the simple whole wheat halwa .
I adore the simplicity of atta halwa and that is what I prepared last week for naivedyam.

3/4 cup Coarse ground whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar (I like it mildly sweet, hence I use only 1/2 cup sugar)
2.5 cups water(warm)
3-4 tbsp ghee
1/2 cup chopped cashew and almonds
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 tspn cardamom powder

Roast wheat flour in ghee till light brownish on a slow to medium flame stirring constantly. The unmistakable aroma of roasted wheat flour is hard to miss. I usually add 1 whole cashew in the beginning and when the cashew turns brown I know the roasting is done.
Now add all cashew and almond pieces and raisins. Roast for another 2 minutes.
Add the sugar while stirring constantly.
Add the warm water till it gets incorporated in the flour. The water will quickly disappear and the volume of the halwa would be doubled.
Add the cardamom powder and give a final stir. The rich appetizing aroma fills the kitchen.
Cover for a minute. Switch off the flame.
Indulge your sweet tooth in the goodness of atta halwa. A simple way to please the Gods !

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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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