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Diwali Recipes
Diwali, the
Festival of Lights, is also known as the festival of sweets! Here are
two traditional Diwali sweets to enjoy.
Kheer
Kheer is an Indian version of rice pudding which is especially
popular at Diwali. It can be served warm or chilled.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1/4 cup long grain rice (preferably basmati rice), washed and drained
4-5 cups milk
2 cardamom seeds, crushed
2 tbsp almonds (blanched silvered)
A pinch of saffron threads, soaked in a little hot milk
1 tbsp skinned pistachio nuts (chopped)
1 tbsp raisins (optional)
3-4 tbsp sugar
Method
Put the rice, milk and cardamom in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and
then turn down the heat and simmer gently until the rice is soft and the
grains are starting to break up (approximately 60 minutes).
Add the almonds, pistachio, saffron and raisins and simmer for 3-4
minutes. Add the sugar and stir gently until completely dissolved.
Remove from heat and allow to cool. Serve warm or chilled.
Gulab Jamun
Whenever we eat in an Indian restaurant, we try to sample this delicious
and indulgent desert, which appeals to anyone with a sweet tooth! They
are fun to try at home (although with the hot oil we do not recommend
that the kids help you with this one!)
Ingredients
1 cup milk powder
1/2 cup Bisquick pancake mix (or 1/2 cup all purpose flour and 1/2 tsp
baking soda)
2 tablespoons butter, melted
Whole milk - enough to make the dough
2 cups sugar
4-5 cardamom pods (optional)
1 cup water
Oil for deep frying
Method
First make the syrup. Put the sugar and water into a sturdy saucepan.
Crush the cardamom pods and add to the mixture. Heat gently until the
sugar dissolves. Transfer to a large flat bottomed serving bowl or
casserole (into which your gulab juman will fit in a single layer) and
keep warm while you make the gulab jamun.
Now make the dough by combining the milk powder, Bisquick and butter.
Add just enough whole milk to make a fairly stiff dough, then divide it
into 18-20 portions. Make balls by gently rolling each portion between
your palms into a smooth ball. Place the balls on a plate and cover with
a slightly damp kitchen towel.
Heat the oil (enough to deep fry the gulab jamun) on high and then lower
the heat to medium. Gently add the balls, one by one. They will sink to
the bottom of the pan. Do not handle them - just gently shake the pan to
enable the balls to cook evenly. Be extremely careful as you are dealing
with hot oil.
After about 5 minutes, the balls will rise to the surface. Now keep them
moving gently so that they brown evenly on all side.
The temperature of the oil is very important: if too high the gulab
jamun will tend to break up and the outsides will cook too quickly.
Frying them slowly ensures that they cook through and brown evenly.
Transfer the gulab jamun to the sugar syrup and remove from heat. Leave
in the syrup overnight and serve warm (reheat very gently) or at room
temperature. Sweet and delicious! Back to
Diwali for Kids
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