Ash Gourd Halwa | Boodh Kumbalakai Halwa | Kashi Halwa | DumRoot Halwa Recipe

It is a very popular Indian dessert prepared from ash gourd, sugar, and ghee. It is also called boodh kumbalakai halwa, it is very rich in taste and healthy too. You can prepare ash gourd MajjigeHuli. By clicking the link. It is mainly served during breakfast and lunchtime. Ash gourd halwa is quite popular in the Udupi-Mangalore side. 

  

Usually, food color will be added to make halwa, but no need for any artificial color to prepare ash gourd. One best thing is, this halwa can be stored last long when stored in the fridge. Always use mature ash gourd to save your time. Do not use a food processer, grating ash gourd gives the best texture at last. Gratin the ash gourd and frying is a big deal, but it feels worth your effort after tasing it. 

You can use saffron and cardamon for the best flavor. Adding saffron gives the best color to halwa. along with add crunched cashew, pistachio, almonds, and raisins for best tastes and extra flavor. 

Cuisine: Karnataka | Prepare Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins | Serves: 4 

Ingredients:

Grated ash gourd           3 cups/800 grams.

Sugar                             1 cup

Saffron strands               a few

Cardamom powder        1/2 tsp

Ghee                              5 tbsp

Broken Cashews            10

Raisins                           few

Broken Almonds           10

Broken pistachio            5 

Method:

1. Peel off the skin, discard the pulp and seeds inside and grate ash gourd using a grater. 
2. Squeez grated ash gourd and remove extra water from it. 
3. In a large Kadai, add the grated ash gourd and saute the ash gourd on medium heat till all the water evaporates and the ash gourd is cooked and soft. It will take nearly 15-20 minutes. 
4. Once it cooked, add sugar, saffron, cardamom and mix well until sugar dissolves in it. Adjust the sugar as per your taste. 
5. Keep stirring the ash gourd and ensuring that the ash gourd does not burn and stick to the bottom of the pan. 
6. Add ghee to the halwa and continue stirring until the halwa became thicken and leaves the sides of the pan. This will take about 10 minutes. Turn of the flame.
7. In a small pan, heat tbsp of ghee, add broken cashews, almonds, raisins, pistachio, and fry. 
8. Pour dry fruits over halwa and serve hot/cold and refrigerate for a week. 

Recipe Notes:

• Always cook halwa in a low to medium flame to avoid sticky and burning.
• Pick mature ash gourd to prepare quick halwa.
• Sugar should be added after the water evaporates completely.
• Keep string in the whole process of making halwa. 

If you like this post, kindly comment below and do share your valuable response. Thank you :) 

Instant Gulab Jamun Mix Recipe | Best Dessert For All Time

Gulab Jamun is an all-time favorite dessert for all and very easy to prepare. It is a classic Indian sweet preparation in most festivals. It is mainly prepared from milk solids, traditionally from khoya, which is milk reduced to the consistency of a soft dough. Gulab Jamun is deep-fried, dipped in a sugar syrup by adding a pinch of cardamom to enhance the flavor. It is also served with vanilla ice cream which makes it cold and hot sweet dessert recipe. 

                                   Tips to make perfect gulab jamun

1. Don't add too much of water/milk, moisture dough Jamun will break in the oil.
2. Jamun dough balls should roll through using your palm, avoid using finger and it should be no crakes on it. 
3. Pre-heat the oil before you making the balls.
4. While frying the flame should be medium. The higher or too low flame will make Jamun uncook or over-roasted.
5. Fry both the side until crispy and keep it on tissue paper to remove excess oil from it.

Cuisine: Indian        | Preparation: 10 minutes

Cookin: 15 minutes | Serves: 20 to 25 Jamun

Ingredients:

To make a dough

Instant Jamun Mix powder: 1 pack (any brand)

Milk: 2 tbsp

Water as needed

Oil to deep fry

Little oil to grease your palm

To make sugar syrup

2 cups of sugar

2 cups of water

pinch of cardamom

                  

Method:

1. In a medium Kadai, add 2 cups of water, 2 cups of sugar, and a pinch of cardamom and set it to boil in a medium flame until sugar dissolves completely and slightly sticky.
2. In the meantime, add instant Jamun mix power in a bowl and mix with tbsp of milk and water as needed and knead it well without any lumps and make it into small balls. (always make sure to roll a ball on your palm, it should be smooth without any crack.  
3. Divide 20-25 equal-sized portion balls by grease your palm with oil and roll it until smooth balls. Keep them covered for 5 minutes.
4. Heat the pan by adding enough oil to deep fry in a medium flame. Check the oil temperature by adding a little piece of dough in oil. 
5. Add balls and fry for 1-2 minutes or until crispy. (frying too much makes burnt balls). Keep stirring gently to fry them uniformly.
6. Add them to the hot syrup and let it sit for 1 to 2 hours. 
7. Garnishing gulab jamun with chopped pistachios. 
8. Serve with vanilla ice cream and enjoy the dessert.

NOTE:

• 1 pack of Jamun mix makes 20 to 25 small balls.
• Balls should roll on the palm, don't use fingers to roll a ball.
• Make sure oil temperature should be perfect.
• Check the sugar syrup consistency. if the syrup is less, then balls will not absorb and doubled in size.
• Adding cardamom powder gives extra flavor.

If you like this post, kindly comment below and do share your valuable response. Thank you :)

Banana Ice-Cream Smoothie

Banana ice cream is a healthy smoothie to beat this summer. This is a simple, easy, and quick recipe to prepare. This is prepared using a ripe banana and vanilla ice cream. You can prepare this recipe by using other types of fruits as well. Banana smoothie is one of the best energy drink for summer. Ice cream gives a rich texture in any kind of smoothies when it is perfectly blended. This is so fresh, smooth, and creamy. 

Cuisine: Karnataka | Time: 10 minutes | Serves: 2 

Ingredients:

Banana                   -  2 large
Milk                        -  3/4 cup chilled
Vanilla Ice cream    -  2 scoop
Ice cube                 -  2
Almond                  -  4
Cashews                -  4

Method:

1. Before making smoothies, prepare ice cubes, freeze the ripe banana for 15 minutes and chill the milk.
2. In a mixer jar/juice maker, add frozen and chopped bananas.
3. Now add ice cubes into it and blend it well until a smooth paste.
4. Add chopped dry fruits, chilled milk and grind it well.
5. Now add 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream and grind it well and make it a thick paste.
6. Banana smoothie is ready to serve. you can store in the fridge or serve immediately.

If you like this post, kindly comment below and do share your valuable response. Thank you :)

                                                                                          

Rice Halwa | Akki HalBai

This is one of my all-time favorite sweet, It comes out very soft and also very tasty to eat. You can call it as rice fudge. It is prepared with fewer ingredients and a bit easy to prepare. This is one of the famous traditional sweets in Karnataka. The color and its texture are simply awesome. It can be prepared not only during the festival but also on regular days for evening snacks. Mainly kids enjoy this sweet a lot as it dissolves as soon as you keep it in your mouth. Today I am sharing this mouth-watering recipe with you all, give a try, and enjoy the food.

Cuisine: Karnataka | Cooking: 20 minutes
Preparation: 1 hr 30 minutes | Yield: 25 - 30 

Ingredients:

Jaggery  -  2 whole (square)
Rice       -  1 cup
Water     -  5 cups

Method:

• Before you start, rinse rice for about 2 hours.
• Soak water and add rice into a big jar. Grind until it becomes a soft paste. 
• In a deep Kadai/pan, add water and jaggery. Let it boil in a medium flame until jaggery completely dissolves in water.
• Now take prepared rice paste and pour slowly into jaggery water by continuously stirring it and also ensuring no lumps are formed and mix well.

• Boil it well in a medium flame, it takes about 1 hour to get boiled completely. 
• Keep stirring well until it becomes thick paste or until sticky goes off. It should not stick to the pan, If it is sticky keep boiling it for few more minutes.

• Once it is done, switch off the flame and let it set aside.
• Grease oil on the plate and pour this and spread evenly and let it cool completely. (for about 30 minutes).
• After 30 minutes, cut into shapes as per your likes and serve.

If you like this post, kindly comment below and do share your valuable response. Thank you :)

                                                      

Akki Shavige | Ottu Shavige | Rice Noodles

Rice Noodles  (ಅಕ್ಕಿ ಶಾವಿಗೆ)  is one of the famous south indian recipe which is made with rice flour. It goes very well with gasagase payasa or sweet coconut milk or Avarekai sambar. It is very easy to prepare if you get to know the shape while pressing the stuff with rice noodles maker (shavige mane). It can be prepared for breakfast, lunch, snacks or for dinner as well. This is also prepared on special occasions like marriage, festivals etc., 

 The rice flour and water quantity are very important here, if you use more water, dough becomes very soft and it makes shavige very sticky and mushy. We can prepare so many variety of dishes by using ottu shavige, like lemon shavige, tamarind shavige, Puliyogare shavige, etc. Always use shavige mane/maker to prepare this. If you don't have shavige mane/maker you can also use chakli maker but it is a little difficult to make this from chakli maker as it is a little hard and need more energy to press.

Cuisine: South India | Cooking: 10 minutes
Preparation: 20 minutes | Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

Rice flour   -   2 pavu/cups
Water         -   3 pavu/cups ( adjust with rice flour)
Salt            -   as per taste
Ghee/Oil    -   1 tbsp

Method:

1. First, boil the water in a deep Kadai/pan by adding 2 tbsp of rice flour, ghee/oil, salt and stir well.
2. Wait till the water boil. once it starts boiling gradually add remaining rice flour little by little and keep stirring well and make a dough.
3. In a low flame let it cook for 5 minutes and switch off the flame. Let it cool sometimes.
4. Grease your finger with ghee/oil and knead the dough well until softness. 
5. Make a Big orange size dough and insert into rice noodles maker/shavige mane and press the dough using noodles maker on a greased plate with ghee.
6. Do it the same for remaining dough and serve when it is hot.
7. It goes really well with Sweet coconut milk/Kayi Halu. (For Kayi halu/sweet coconut recipe click here Sweet Coconut Milk/Kayi Halu.)

If you like this post, kindly comment below and do share your valuable response. Thank you :)

Oreo - Chocolate Mousse

Using Oreo cookies along with cheese and whipped cream is an easy and quick way to make a perfect dessert. Wherever I find Oreo cookies I start preparing cakes, mousse, or milkshakes. I am excited to share this Delicious simple mousse recipe with you all and this is perfect for the weekend retreat.

 This is layered with chocolate and whipped cream with paired of crumbled Oreo cookies. What could be better than whipped cream cookies and creamy dessert? This is an absolute Oreo whipped cream dessert with mouthwatering chocolate flavor. 

This is one of the recipes which I learned from one of my friend from Kerala. They usually prepare this recipe in their home during Christmas. When I went to her home for Christmas, she served this delicious one to me and I just loved it. 

I took this recipe from her and tried at home, I was not able to get that taste at the first time and didn't get proper layer as well because the measurement I took was not that accurate. The second time I prepared it was very tasty and thereafter every time I prepared I could get a better taste and now I can prepare it better than my friend.

Sometimes homemade whipped cream doesn't come out well and that can spoil your recipe. Hence I always recommend using ready-made whipped cream that is extremely fresh which is just opened. Always refrigerate whipped cream to get chillness before us

Always use Hand mixer while preparing this recipe as you will get the proper thickness of creams. You won't get proper thickness if you use hand to whisk. For crumbled oreo cookies you can use a mixer/food processor.

Cuisine: French | Preparation: 20 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

Oreo cookies           -  15
Grated chocolate     -   1 
Milk                          -  1/2 cup
Whipped cream       -   2 cups
Cocoa powder         -   2 tbsp
Powdered sugar      -   1/4 cup
Water                       -    1 tbsp
Dark chocolates      -    4

Method:

1. In a mixer/food processor make sugar into a fine powder and add crush the oreo cookies into crumbles and set aside (don't grind oreo cookies into a fine powder).
2. In a pan, add milk and chocolates and let it warm a little in the low flame until you get a thick paste.
3. Take another small pan, add cocoa powder and water. let it boil by stir hand and mix well. (keep stirring).(it comes out like chocolate sauce).
4. Mix this cocoa powder sauce to boiled milk and chocolate mixture, and make a thick paste and keep it aside
5. Now take a large bowl add chilled whipped cream, powdered sugar and mix it with a hand mixer until it turns into cream, it may take about 7-10 minutes.
6. Now divide this whipped cream into half and keep it aside.
7. To assemble the layers, use a pastry bag or a medium-size spoon. 
8. Take a decorative glass, first, add a layer of crumbled oreo cookies, second add chocolate- milk- cocoa sauce paste, third add whipped cream using cone/pastry bag. Repeat the same 3 steps again so you will get 6 layers. Once done with six layers add grated chocolate on the top (on top you can use crumbled cookies too).
9. Oreo chocolate mousse is ready now, refrigerate it for 30 minutes before serving.

Hot Chocolate Milkshake

Happy to share my favourite recipe with you all. Who don't love chocolate, chocolate cake, chocolate mousses, chocolate fudge etc..!!! So today I will teach you how to prepare chocolate milkshake which requires fewer ingredients and easy to prepare at home. I use vanilla ice cream as it gives more flavour when it perfectly blends with chocolate.

This is a cold sweet beverage prepared from the chocolate blend, cocoa powder and vanilla ice cream. This chocolate flavoured cold milk is best to beat the summer. This is one of the popular milkshake recipes which is loved by all the age group.  I have used blender/juicer to prepare this. Concentrate on thickness and consistency while blending.  

Preparation: 10 minutes | serves: 4

Ingredients:

Dark chocolate                 -   1 big (I used Cadbury)

Powdered sugar               -    ¼ cup

Cocoa powder                  -    1 ½ (Unsweetened)

Instant coffee powder      -   1 tbsp

Vanilla extract                 -   1 tbsp

Whole milk                      -   2 cups

Ice cubes                        -   3-4 cubs

Vanilla Ice cream             -   4 cups

For Garnish:

Whipped cream               -   1 cup

Chocolate sauce              -   ½ cup

Cashew                          -   10

Almond                          -   10

Method:

1. Place the chocolate in a pan and melt it.
2. Once it starts melting add powdered sugar, cocoa powder, instant coffee powder and 1 a cup of milk. Mix well and warm it in a medium flame. Do not over boil or don’t wait until it gets bubble.
3. Once it warm, switch off the flame and let it cool for a minute. Now pour this chocolate mixture into a blender. Add remaining 1 cup of milk to the blender along with the vanilla extract, ice cubes and vanilla ice cream. Cover and blend until very smooth.
4. Pour this into glasses and add whipped cream, topped with chocolate sauce and cashew and almond.
5. Once it done, place it in the freezer for 5 minutes to get quick chill and serve cold.

Notes: 

• You can use vanilla essence instead of vanilla extract.
• Adding the ice cubes thicken the milkshake, but it is optional you can skip this.
• Topped with whipped cream can also replace with ice cream.