Egg-less brownies

"Brownies" is a baked bar which is crunchy like cookies and soft like a cake.  It is a very popular sweet item in European and Western countries like USA.  This sweet bar is eaten with either hot chocolate sauce or all time favorite Vanilla ice cream scoop which had earned a very famous name of" Iron and Ivory".....
 For more details on brownies please refer this link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_brownie. This recipe I had found best on master chef Sanjeev kapoor's site. A very easy preparation and the result is also great. Try it for this Romantic season of February.....!!!
Ingredients:
100 grams dark chocolate(I had used Bournville hazelnut flavor)
1.1/3 cups all purpose flour(maida)
2 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup butter(1/2 +1/4 cup)
1 cup +1.1/2 tablespoon powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1/4 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped walnut kernels
Method:
Sift the flour and baking powder. Keep it aside.

Flour and baking powder

In a microwave bowl add the butter & chocolate and melt them together at 100% power for a minute or more.If melting is done on gas , Do it on Double boiler*.

Melted chocolate and butter

Add the sugar and vanilla essence and mix well with the help of a beater or a big spoon.

Adding sugar and vanilla essence

Mixing the content

To this mixture add the flour and walnuts and mix well. Add small portions of milk to make the batter smooth.enough. You do not have to make the content fluffy only stir and mix well so that a pouring consistency is formed.

Mixture ready for the brownies

Pre-heat the oven or microwave at conviction mode at 180 degree. Grease a baking tin and pour the prepared batter into it.

batter ready to bake

Bake it on 180 degree for about 35-40 minutes.
When baked remove it and let it stand for about 5 minutes.

after baking

I had cut the brownies into heart shape , about 7-8 brownies were formed...

Crunchy and soft "Eggless Brownies are ready"!!
Optional notes:
Please be sure of the quantity of the ingredients . Follow the method as per the recipe only.

*In double boiling, water is boiled in deep pan and on top of it another pan is placed in which  soft ingredients of a recipe are melted so that they do not burn.. 
The brownies can be served with hot chocolate ,Ice creams or custards.
The texture and taste of the brownies will be slightly chewy and soft.
One can make the brownies and store them in fridge for future consumption.

Mohanthal

Welcome the Spring Season with the celebration of "Vasant panchmi".  Basant/vasant means "spring".This festival is celebrated each year on the fifth day(panchmi) in the month of magh(between January and February) of the Indian calender.This day marks the beginning of spring season  in India. In Punjab, the day is celebrated with kite flying events. 

 On this  day Goddess Saraswati( Goddess of knowledge, art and music) is worshiped and lot of prayers and celebrations are held in schools and educational institutes which is called" Saraswati pujan".People wear Yellow/saffron colored clothes ,prepare and consume meals &sweets which are yellow/saffron in color.
 It is also considered that the young ones are taught their first letters on this auspicious day with the blessings of goddess saraswati for their successful academic life!!

For the celebration of Vasant panchmi i had prepared a special sweet which is from Gujrat  "Mohan thal". This sweet is specially prepared for this as saffron and gram flour both the ingredients are rich in yellow colour!! so prepare this specialty and enjoy!!
This preparation makes 12-14 pieces
Ingredients:
1 cup gram flour(besan)
1/2 cup ghee+ 2 tablespoon
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoon milk
1/2 cup whole milk solids(khoya/mawa)a little more
1/4 cup water
10-12  pieces cashew nuts
10-12 pieces almonds
10-12 pieces pistachios
1 teaspoon cardamom powder
Method:
In a bowl, take the gram flour and add 2 tablespoon ghee to it.

Gram flour and ghee

Using hands, mix the ghee properly with the flour so that granule texture(like breadcrumbs) appear.

granule texture

Add the milk to this mixture and knead it into a soft dough. Keep it aside for 10-15  minutes in order to moisten  the gram flour.

soft dough of gram flour

Prepare the sugar syrup by adding the sugar and water in a pan. Boil the syrup till the sugar dissolves completely in the water.

sugar and water

The syrup should be little dense such as that when you put a drop of the syrup on your thumb, a single thread formation happens between your index finger and thumb.

Semi thick sugar syrup

Cut/slice the dry fruits, add half of them into this syrup and leave the remaining for garnishing.

In a non stick Kadahi(wok), heat the remaining ghee and add the kneaded gram flour. Break them into pieces before adding for ease.

sauteing the gram flour

Saute it on low- medium flame till it starts to change its color slightly. Keep on stirring continuously to avoid the burning of the flour. Add the saffron strands and mix.

Add the crumbled/grated khoya to this and saute the mixture again for another 6-10 minutes till a nice aroma and dark golden color appears. Keep stirring till the mixture gets a little dry.

after adding the khoya  and sauteing for 6 more minutes

Add the sugar syrup to this and mix properly. Add the cardamom powder and mix well.

adding the sugar syrup

Grease a big tray or thali and place this mixture on it. Using a spatula spread it evenly.

Let it cool. Will take 2-3 hours at room temperature.
Finally garnish this with the dryfruits and few saffron strands.Cut them into desired shape and size after it had set properly.

Mohanthal is ready for offering to Goddess saraswati!!

Sweet Pongal

                                             "Happy Pongal to all my Blog readers"

 Pongal is a special festival which is celebrated in all the parts of south India on 14th January of each year. This festival is celebrated for four days, each day signifying its importance. The celebrations are done in praise of Sun God for providing good harvest thus blessing with prosperity and growth of lands and people.  On this day People prepare 'Pongal', which is a mixed combination of lentil and rice cooked in sugar juice or jaggery. They cook it in  an earthen pot and let it overflow during its cooking which resembles the symbol of prosperity. Lot of events and dances are held during this festival. for more details check: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Pongal.

I had prepared "Sweet Pongal" which is specially prepared for the Pongal festival

SWEET PONGAL

Ingredients:
1 cup rice(preferably Basmati)
1/2 cup split green gram(Yellow moong daal)
2 cups crumbled jaggery
2.5 cups milk
4 tablespoon ghee
1/2 cup fresh grated coconut
2 teaspoon cardamom powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder(jai ful)
Method:
Wash ans soak rice for 1/2 hour.
Dry roast the daal till it slightly changes its colour.

Dry roasting the daal

Drain the water of rice. In a pressure cooker, add daal and rice with milk, and cook it for 15 minutes on lower heat or till the rice and daal boils and cooks properly.

cooking daal and rice 

 Add a table spoon of ghee into this mixture. With the help of  a spoon mix them well.

rice and daal mix after cooking

In a kadahi(wok) dry roast the grated coconut on  medium flame for about 5 minutes. Keep it aside.

Roasting grated coconut

In same kadahi, heat a tablespoon of ghee and roast the cashew nuts and raisins for a minute. Keep them
aside too.

roasting dry fruits

Heat the kadahi  and add the rice lentil mixture.
To this add the coconut and dry fruits along with cardamom powder. Mix well.

Now add the crumbled jaggery and stir well so that it melts and blends well with the other ingredients.

Adding jaggery

saute for few minutes till it gets a little dry. Finally garnish with saffron strands.

"Sweet Pongal" is ready for the occasion of Pongal.!!

Optional notes:
For this day Salty pongal is also prepared which in North India is called "Moong Daal khichdi"(rice and split green gram porridge.).The only difference is of the tarka(tempering) which is of  curry leaves, green chili, whole black pepper, mustard seeds and asafeotida.
In case pressure cooker is not available, boil the milk in a heavy base pan and cook the rice and lentil into it till they are nicely boiled and cooked.

Til ladoo

This sweet is a mix combination of sesame seeds, peanuts and coconut. Sesame seeds are a good source of calcium, manganese and dietary fibers. Peanuts are enriched with Vitamin E which is essentially required for a healthy skin. Coconut is a good source of Phosphorus, Iron and Vitamin E.

For the special occasion of sakat and makar sakranti , I had prepared this sweet which is easy to make and can be stored for later consumption...... 

Til Ladoos

This preparation will make about 20 pieces

Ingredients:

400 grams white sesame seeds(safed til)

100 grams peanuts

100 grams dry grated coconut(khopra)

250 grams powdered sugar(bura)

200 grams condensed milk

Method:

In a kadahi(wok) dry roast the sesame seeds till they slightly change colour into light brown.

Roasting the sesame seeds

Cool and ground the seeds into a fine powder.

grounded sesame seeds

Dry roast the peanuts and discard the skin. Cool and ground them too.

roasting the peanuts

Dry roast the grated coconut for 3-4 minutes on medium flame. Let it cool.

Dry coconut roasting

In a mixing bowl, add all the grounded ingredients and add the sugar powder. To avoid the lumps of powdered sugar give a single rotation of the whole mixture(sugar, sesame seeds, peanuts and coconut) in a grinder.

Mixing all the dry ingredients

To this add the condensed milk(for binding) and mix well.

Dry mixture and condensed milk

Apply little ghee on your palms.Take a small portion of this mixture(about one or two tablespoon) on your palm and shape them into round balls.

Shaping ladoos

Til ladoos are ready !! 

Optional notes:

If one is allergic to peanuts or coconut powder, avoid adding them to the ladoos. Increase the quantity of sesame seeds as equal to the quantity of the ingredient avoided.

If binding of ladoos is not occurring properly add little more of condensed milk to the mixture.

One can prepare and store these ladoos in advance. Store them in fridge. 

Sesame sweets

In India every month has a significant festival which is celebrated in almost every part of the country.
January is the month of two most important festival Sakat and Makar sakranti.


Sakat or Sankashti is celebrated on the fourth day of the second fortnight of the hindu calender. On this day ladies fast for the whole day and pray to lord Ganesha for the health and growth of their children. The fast is ended by eating the bhog(food prepared to offer God) only after witnessing the Moon rise.

People purchasing kites for jamghat

Makar sakranti is celebrated on 14 January of each year.  On this day Sun transits into Makar rashi(Capricon)  on its celestial path. This day is also celebrated in different parts of the country in forms of Pongal(in Tamil Nadu), Lohri(in Punjab)and Kite flying festival (Uttrayan)in Gujrat and (Jamghat)Uttar pradesh.  The day marks the harvesting celebrations and is enjoyed with loads of fun and frolly all over the Country.
On both the occasions lots of sweets and dishes are prepared with major ingredients of Sesame seeds, jaggery and lentils. 




For the special occasion of Sakat i had made "Tilkut" which is mostly prepared for offering to Lord Ganesha. Other recipes of sesame seeds will be posted very soon....enjoy!!

TILKUT

Ingredients:
1 cup white sesame seeds(safed til)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoon cardamom powder(ilaechi )
few pieces of raisins
Method:
In a kadahi(wok) dry roast the sesame seeds till they turn light golden brown in colour.

roasting sesame seeds

Ground the roasted seeds into a slightly coarse powder

Grounded sesame seeds

To this add powdered sugar, Cardamom powder and raisins and give one more rotation in the grinder.

Mixing powdered sugar and cardamom powder

Tilkut is ready for offering it To lord Ganesha....