5 Diwali Sweets & Snacks Recipes

In  my chilly idly post , I got a comment from a fellow blogger asking for the recipes of sweets & onion murukku I prepared for diwali. So I am posting this for her & for my future reference. For Kaju katli , I referred some blogs, got some ideas and then followed Mrs. Mallika Badrinath’s method .

For Wheat flour ladoo,  I took the recipe from Vah chef’s site. Home made Gulab Jamun, Khus Khus Halwa & Onion murukku recipes from my friend Shalini. I tried everything for the first time and I was satisfied with the outcome. Though I made some small mistakes, I learnt the technique of making perfect sugar syrup for different sweets and i got the confidence of making all these sweets perfect in future. Everything comes by practice, especially sweets isn’t it. 

I prepared this sweet within 15 mins.. Very easy and ideal to prepare for surprise guests..
Ingredients :

• Wheat flour – 1 cup
• Besan flour – 1 tbsp
• Ghee – 1/2 cup (slightly less )
• Sugar – 1/2 – 3/4 cup  ( I used 1/2 cup only.. increase based on your taste buds)
• Cashew nuts – a few
• Cardamom seeds – 3 nos

Method :

• Powder sugar along with cardamom in a mixie
• Melt ghee, add gram flour. Roast until color changes and leaves a nice aroma.
• Add the wheat flour and roast on a low flame till aroma spreads and it becomes a bit lumpy. Add the roasted cashew pieces and mix well.
• Remove from flame, cool it.
• Mix powdered sugar.
• Make ladoos by taking small portions of this mixture in your hands..
• Enjoy !!

Note :
If you are not able to shape the balls, add more melted ghee , mix well and then shape it..

Ingredients:

• Khus Khus / Poppy seeds – 1 cup
• Sugar – 1.25 cups
• Ghee – 1/4 cup
• Milk – Little to grind poppy seeds
• Powdered Nutmeg & cardamom – Little.

Method :

• Soak poppy seeds in hot water for 4 hours.
• Drain the excess water and grind to a smooth paste using little milk.
• Take the paste in a vessel and pressure cook for 1 whistle.
• Add sugar to the  cooked paste and heat it in a heavy bottomed kadai stirring constantly.
• When it sticks to the bottom, add the ghee little by little.
• When complete moisture is absorbed and halwa gets a shine , add the rest of ghee , cardamom& nutmeg powders and remove from fire.

Ingredients :

• Cashewnuts – 100 gms ( 1/2 cup)
• Sugar – 1/4 cup
• Rose essence – a few drops (optional)
• Water – just to cover the sugar.
• Ghee – a tsp ( to grease)

Method :

• Dry roast the cashews in a hot kadai without changing the color. Switch off the flame and leave the cashews in the kadai for 10 – 15 mins to make it crispy.
• Dry grind it in the mixie to make a fine powder . Run the mixie continuously till it becomes a nice powder.Transfer it to a wide bowl .
• Take the sugar in a bowl and add the water just to cover the sugar.
• Heat till it reaches **one string consistency. Add the essence to it.mix it well.
• Add the cashew powder and mix well until it forms a thick mass like chapathi dough ( should be slightly sticky and test it by making small balls).Takes 4-5 minutes.
• Apply ghee on 2 thick sheets ( butter paper ) and transfer the dough to the sheet. It will harden in few minutes. Cover it with another sheet and roll out like a thin chapathi. (If the dough is too hard , add little milk , knead well and the roll it.)
• Peel off the top sheet and decorate with silver warq.

Enjoy with ur dear ones 🙂

TIPS:

• One more method suggested by mallika badrinath is, instead of adding the cashew powder in the sugar syrup, add sugar syrup to the powder. ie , after the single string is reached, remove the syrup from fire and add the cashew powder little by little like how ou knead chapathi dough. It may not need all the syrup. Make a soft, smooth, non-sticky dough, roll and make shape. I’ve tried this method too. It will come out well..

Ingredients 

• Sugarless khova– 3/4 cup
• Maida – 1/3 cup
• Milk powder – 2 tbsp
• Cooking soda – A big pinch
• Water – As needed

• Sugar – 1 cup ( 250 gms)
• Rose essence – a few drops Or cardamom powder – 4 pods (crushed)
• Kesar color – a pinch (optional)

Method :

• Mix all the ingredients given above and bring it to a soft , pliable dough. Add the required water.Keep it aside for 15 minutes..Do not knead the dough much..
• Make small balls without cracks and deep fry them in a low flame till it becomes soft.(plz dont fry till crispy and the ball should be evenly cooked) . Keep it aside.
• In  a broad vessel make take the sugar and add equal amount of water. Allow it to dissolve completely by constant stirring in a low flame. Make sure the sugar syrup does not start to boil before it dissolves completely.
• Once it is dissolved , raise the flame and allow it to boil for  5- 7  mins. Add the kesar color when it boils. Add a few drops of lime juice to retain the consistency.
• Finally add the rose essence and switch off the flame.Add the jamuns when the syrup is hot.
• Leave it for an hour and serve !!

SAVOURIES 

Ingredients :

• Par boiled rice / Idly rice –1 cup
• Roasted Gram flour / pottukadalai maavu – 1/2 cup
• Besan flour – 1/2 cup
• Shallots / sambhar onions – 1/2 cup
• Red chilly – 6 nos
• Salt & water – As needed.
• Oil – to deep fry & 1 tbsp

Method :

• Soak the rice in water for 2 hrs.
• Drain the water and grind it along with shallots and red chilli, salt  to make a smooth batter. Add little water to grind.
• The batter should be thick & smooth.
• Then add the flours to it and mix well. Knead to make a chapathi dough.
• Put this in the murukku press with star mould in it.
• Press it in hot oil to make murukkus.

Note :

• If you feel the batter is watery, put the batter in a cotton cloth and wrap it and keep it for sometime to absorb the excess water and to bring it to dough consistency.