Chocolate Rum Balls!

Celebrate this Valentine's day with these home made chocolate rum balls and bring a smile on the faces of your loved ones.

I am not a big fan of rum balls but my hubby simply relishes them. This is my gift for him this Valentine's.

Rum balls are very easy to make and are done in no time. I have coated some in Matcha (green tea) powder, and dipped the rest in dark chocolate and made them look pretty. This recipe is taken from here


Ingredients

200 grams - chocolate brownie or cake
50 grams- dark chocolate 70%, melted
2 1/2 tbsp - sweetened condensed milk
2 tbsp - dark rum
1/2 tbsp - melted butter
2 tbsp - raisins or cranberries, finely chopped
150 grams - dark chocolate 70% melted, to coat the rum balls
1 tbsp - matcha powder, to coat the rum balls
icing sugar

colourful sprinkles

Method

1. Grind the chocolate brownie in a grinder and take it out in a bowl. Add the 50 grams melted chocolate, melted butter, chopped cranberries, rum and condensed milk and mix well. 
2. Dust a little icing sugar in hands and make small (approx 1 inch) balls and refrigerate them for 10 mins.
3. Take them out of the fridge and coat a couple of them in matcha powder and put them back in the fridge for 10-20 minutes.
4. Coat the rest of the rum balls in melted chocolate, one by one and carefully lifting each with the help of a fork. Let the excess chocolate drip and place the rum ball on the lined tray. 
5. Sprinkle some coloured sprinkles or decorate them as you wish and let them chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes and serve or store them in an air tight container. They keep good for 3-4 days in the fridge.

Note:
1. In case you are using home made chocolate cake or brownie then let the cake cool completely before grinding it.


Enjoy!

Special Sweets for my Special Friends!

It's not a special day but this special post is for all my close friends who have always been my support system, in my good times and not so good times. having good friends is truly a blessing.

Just a sweet little SMS, a chat over a cup of tea or quick messages on Watsapp, always being there when one makes serious decision like of one should buy a particular dress or not, talking on the phone, purposely fighting for fun, the unnecessary nagging, sending pictures (I am talking about you, Herr G) to irritate and making the other jealous and most importantly, being present in trying times. I am really lucky to have such amazing friends in my life and they mean the world to me.

A virtual treat for all my special friends and a big, big, big hug to all of you. Thanks for being a part of my life. 

This base of all the sweets in this box is of badam barfi (see my recipe here), badam apple (see my recipe here), badam square with edible glitter and silver balls, triangle with edible colour and decorated with edible glitter gel, badam tokri filled with nutella, garnished with candied ginger, spiral painted and decorated with indian paan mukhwas and a red coloured heart. 

Go, be creative and surprise your close ones with this box of sweets and have a good time :-)

Back with Chocolate Paneer Tikka!

It feels so good to be back. I missed this dear space of mine, the lovely comments, my fellow bloggers and their recipes.

All this while, I didn't stop cooking, I was still trying out new stuff, my experiments in the kitchen was on. Today's recipe is a result of one of such experiments.

A few days ago, while working out in the gym , an idea struck me (I know, wrong timing but thats me...) I had a very clear picture of this dish in my mind. Immediately after the gym, I picked up all the ingredients required, from the local store and rushed home. I made the chocolate paneer, obviously I had no choice but to wait until the paneer was set. The rest of the recipe is fairly easy and fast. Once the paneer was set, I arranged everything exactly how I pictured it.


My hubby is a big paneer enthusiast. He was amazed by the idea loved this sweet tikka. Blueberry compote not only completes this dish but also enhances the taste of the tikka. 

Ingredients

For the chocolate Paneer
1/2 litre - milk 3.5% fat
1/2 tbsp - dark cocoa powder
3 1/2 tbsp - castor sugar
1/2 tbsp - calcium lactate

For the Blueberry Compote
1 3/4 cup - bluberries
1/2 cup - grape juice 
1 cinnamon quill
a generous pinch of clove powder
2 tbsp - muscovado sugar
4 tbsp - water

Rest of the ingredients
1 - kiwi, peeled and cut into cubes
6-7 small pieces of pineapple from the can

Method

1. Add the cocoa powder and sugar to the milk and follow my recipe of "how to make paneer" Once the paneer is set. Keep the paneer block  in the fridge for half an hour and then cut into cubes.
2. Place all the ingredients for the compote in a pan and cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionaly until the berries are soft. 
3. Thread the paneer pieces onto the skewers along with the pineapple and kiwi pieces. 
4. Spoon 1 tbsp of berry compote in shot glasses and serve the tikka. 

Serves- 6-7

Enjoy!

Especially for you my friend - Espresso Panna Cotta with Spiced Cherry Compote!

“A friend is, as it were, a second self” (Marcus Tullius Cicero)

I have so many things, stories, incidences running through my mind that I could write pages, but when I sat in front of my computer, fingers on the keyboard, I am thinking, how to begin and what to write. I didn't find any other appropriate quote that could define us and our friendship.

Today might be an ordinary day for the rest of the world but very special to us. It's been so many years since we last met but that hardly changes anything between us. We still manage to be each others support system, even if we sometimes talk just once in a month. We can still understand each other's silences on the phone and start from where we last left off.

I miss our good old days and all the fun, our shopping excursions, the craze for watching the movies first day-first show, trying out every new restaurant in the city and our desperate measures to collect cash to do all this. Thinking of all this is enough to brighten up my day. I hope we will be able to meet up soon and relive all these beautiful moments again. 

Today's recipe is especially for you my friend. I just cant stop laughing now and finding it really funny that we are talking recipes, who once didn't know abc of cooking. I experimented with agar-agar as I promised you, and I think the result is quite satisfying. So now it's your turn :-)

Ingredients

80 ml - sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup - cream, around 40 % fat
1/4 cup - greek yogurt (you may also use thick hung curd)
1 espresso (approx 30 ml), cooled
1/3 cup - milk
1 tsp levelled - agar agar powder

For Cherry Compote
125 grams - cherries, washed and pitted
2 tbsp - muscovado sugar
2 small pieces of cinnamon sticks
2 pieces of star anise
1/4 cup - water

For decoration (optional)
Sorry for not providing the exact sugar measurement for the decoration but I followed this video here to make the sugar nest.

Method

1. Bring the cream to just before a boil and remove from the heat.
2. Mix the agar agar powder and the milk in a pan. Place the pan over a medium heat and stir until agar agar dissolves properly. It should not take more than a minute.
3. Mix the hot cream to the milk-agar agar mixture and mix well to get an uniform mixture. Let it cool.
4. Mix together the cooled espresso, condensed milk and the greek yogurt in a bowl and keep it aside.
5. Add the slightly warm agar agar cream mixture (if you are able to put your finger in the mixture to the count of 10) to the condensed milk-yogurt mixture and mix well. 
6. Sieve the mixture and pour into the moulds and place the moulds in the fridge to set. It will set in an hours time. 
7. For cherry compote- Place all the ingredients in a pan and cook on medium heat until the cherries are slightly soft. Remove from the heat. 
8. To remove the panna cotta from the moulds- dip each mould in hot water for 5 seconds and then carefully turn out on the serving plates. Just before serving carefully place the sugar nest on top of the panna cotta and serve it with hot cherry compote.

The panna cotta was soft, shiny, creamy and good to taste. It had a slightly grainy texture because of the yogurt. You can completely ignore the yogurt and use cream instead, if you mind the grainy texture.

Enjoy!

I scream ice cream... Matcha Chocolate Ice cream

A bowl of soup, a cup of hot cocoa or coffee is the demand of the season now. After our evening meal today, as usual and expected, my hubby "what's for dessert today?" After a couple of minutes, I served him the ice cream.

The first reaction, "Ice cream, now, in this season..." Then an array of comments started pouring in, "Oh!!! You tried out the green tea powder that we got from our Singapore-Thailand trip". He tried the matcha one first, " How did you make this one?" Mmm... " It is very much like the one we had on our trip." Then he tried the chocolate one, " Did you by any chance ask the vendor for the ice cream recipes?" And, after finishing off his 2 scoops, he looked at me and said, " I hope, you didn't make just a trial batch. Do we have more?" I smiled at him and said, " Ice cream, now, in this season... " I took out the ice cream box out of the fridge and we both enjoyed it, in front of the fireplace, talking about all the fun and adventure of our trip this summer.

We had matcha ice cream in Singapore and I decided then and there that I was gonna try this out. Well, it turned out pretty good and I am very happy and satisfied. 

I am thinking of experimenting a lot with this green tea powder, will update here if I get something good.

Ingredients

500 grams - yogurt

150 ml - cream 30% fat

175 ml - sweetened condensed milk

1 tsp - matcha powder/ green tea powder

1 tbsp - dark cocoa powder

Method

1. Take a tray, put 2 layers of dish towels on the tray and put a wet muslin cloth on the top of the towels. 
2. Spread the yogurt on the wet muslin cloth and leave it for appx 15 mins. 
3. Remove the yogurt with the help of a spoon and a good nice thick hung yogurt is ready.
4. Put the cream and condensed milk in a pan over a medium heat and let it heat up. As soon as tiny bubbles start to appear, remove the pan from the heat and let the mixture cool completely. 
5. Add the hung yogurt to the cool cream-condensed milk mixture and mix well. Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions.
6. Add the matcha powder in one portion and the cocoa powder in to the other. Transfer to seperate plastic containers, cover and freeze till half set.
7. Place the half set ice cream, one after the other, in the food processor and process. Transfer back to the plastic containers and freeze again till half set. Repeat one more time.
8. After the third time let both the ice creams set completely. 
9. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving and enjoy. 

Enjoy!

Bhapa Doi: Traditional Bengali Dessert in 2 exotic flavours: Masala Chai and Chocolate Orange

Bhapa Doi is a very traditional Bengali delicacy, and means, literally translated, steamed yogurt. Also known as Indian cheesecake due to its texture and taste. 

Though I have spent a good number of years in Kolkata and have tasted a load of Bengali sweets, I must admit that I had never tasted Bhapa Doi. I have seen this recipe on a number of blogs but seeing this recipe at Jyoti's blog actually rang a bell. I wondered why haven't I tried out this recipe yet. The simplicity of this Bengal delicacy is it's highlight.

I have (matter of bad habit) played with the recipe a little and tried out 2 new flavours to the steamed yogurt. One of course has to be my all time favourite Chocolate and this time around I have combined it with orange and almonds. And, the second flavour is Chai Masala (Indian Tea spice powder).

This one is especially for my dear sister - enjoy, and go out and get a bowl from the neighborhood sweet shop!

Ingredients

160 grams - sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup - greek yogurt 10% fat

1/2 cup - milk

30 grams - dark orange almond chocolate, melted and cooled

1/4 tsp - zest of an orange + to garnish

1/2 tbsp - blanched almond slivers, roasted, to garnish

1/8 tsp  - cardamom powder

1/8 tsp - clove powder

1/8 tsp - dried ginger powder (saunth)

1/8 tsp - cinnamon powder

a generous pinch of nutmeg powder

a generous pinch of balck pepper powder

a couple of cinnamon sticks, green cardamom and cloves to garnish (optional)

a couple of fresh orange pieces to garnish (optional)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190C
2. Mix the yogurt, milk and condensed milk together until smooth.Divide it equally into bowls.
3. Add the melted and cooled chocolate and orange zest into one bowl and mix well. Fill this mixture into 2 oven proof bowls/ramekins.
4. Add the powdered spices to the another bowl and mix well. I sieved the mixture and filled it into 2 oven proof bowls/ramekins.
5. Place the bowls/ramekins in a large baking tray. Fill the tray with enough water to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins or dish.Place the tray in the centre of the oven and bake for 35 minutes.(If you are using a large baking dish, it may take longer)
6. I switched off the oven after 35 minutes and left the yogurt in the oven until the oven was cool. Take the bowls out of the oven and cool to room temperature and then let it chill in the fridge. 
7. Garnish the chocolate yogurt with fresh orange pieces, orange rind and roasted almond slivers and the Chai Yogurt with the cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods and cloves and serve.

Note

1. Do not cover the bowls/ramekins/baking dish while baking the yogurt.
2. Traditionally this yogurt is steamed. One can also steam it in a double boiler or a pressure cooker. 
3. Instead of greek yogurt one can also use thick yogurt or, traditionally, hung plain yogurt.
4. Of course, one can add any flavour to this yogurt- fruits, exotic spices, coffee... it's upto your imagination. 

Serves - 4

Cheers!

Baked Malpua

It's been quite a while that I updated a recipe. Of late I have been a little less inspired and just did not feel like myself. Hence, this space of mine has been neglected.

A big warm hug and thank you to all of you for your love and mails. I will try and post more regularly. 

As you all know, both my hubby and I are dessert people. We follow the motto: "Never say no to sweets". And, I often try out new desserts, sweets, cakes etc... Today, I am posting a baked version of a very famous Indian sweet, "Malpua", a rich soft fried pancake with rich saffron flavours. 


My hubby had the first bite and he said, " Mmm malpua... and that too baked...awesome." That was sheer music to my ears and I thought I better share this with my friends. I hope you like it as much as we did.


Ingredients

1 cup - whole wheat flour
5 tbsp - muscovado sugar
1 tsp - cardamom powder
1/4 cup - low fat milk
1/2 cup - low fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp - baking powder
1/4 tsp - bicarbonate of soda
4 tbsp - sunflower oila pinch of salt


Sugar syrup
I forgot to write down the exact measurements for the sugar syrup. We need just enough to drizzle over the baked malpua that it becomes moist.

For garnishing

1 tbsp -edible gum resin (gond)
1 tbsp - clarified butter (ghee)
6 pieces - almonds, chopped roughly
1 tbsp - blanched pistachio, finely chopped
saffron strands

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and grease a bun tray.
2. In a bowl, add all the dry ingredients and mix.
3. In another bowl, add the milk, buttermilk and oil and mix.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and tip in the liquid mix and mix lightly.
5. Spoon the batter into the greased bun tray and place the tray in the centre of the preheated oven.
6. Bake for approx 10 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
7. Let the malpua cool in the tray for a couple of minutes. Take out the malpua out of the tray, invert them and prick the top with a fork. Drizzle the sugar syrup over the top and press gently. 
8. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a pan on a medium heat, add the gond and stirring continously fry the gond. They will fluff up really quickly and will be of almost double the size. Remove them with the help of a spoon. Make sure you do not burn them. Keep aside on a plate
9. Place some gond on top of the malpua along with chopped pistachio, almonds and saffron strands. Serve immediately. 

They taste the best when warm.

Cheers!

Avocado Chocolate Pudding

It's been ages since I made some pudding, and have had a rising desire for pudding for some days now. But the winter is coming - which generally means much more rich food and therefore, the recipe that I am gonna share with you is relatively healthy, and at the same time very simple to make and delicious and of course chocolatey.

So, it fit perfectly last weekend, as I was thinking about making something new, while my hubby was net-surfing - he stumbled upon this website, where he saw this recipe and he shouted from the study, "Hey! I found a very healthy-chocolate pudding recipe online. I think, it's something for you."

I was busy in my thoughts, and did not really pay attention to what he was saying, partly also because of the loud music on Radio (I always have music on when I am cooking). He shouted again, and when he did not get any response from me, he came to the kitchen, and said, "I have been calling you, but forget it, do we have avocado at home?" "Yes, we do, but why?" I said. He dissappeared for a minute, and came back with a print out and said with a grin on his face, "Today's dessert". How could I refuse making this recipe, especially when my dearest so expectantly gave me the recipe.

Of course, we had this dessert that day, with a few teeny-weeny changes from my side. This is the link, where he found that recipe, and, here is how I made it.

Ingredients
 
1 - ripe avocado, peeled and seeded

2 tbsp - butter unsalted

3 tbsp - cocoa powder

3 tbsp - honey (adjust according to your taste)

1 tbsp - walnuts, very finely crushed + to garnish

a generous pinch of cinnamon powder

a pinch of salt

1/4 cup - coconut milk (more or less) (you may also use almond milk)

Method

1.  Put the avocado and butter in a bowl and mash together with a fork until smooth.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the bowl and mix vigorously until everything is mixed and smooth.
3. Garnish with the crushed walnuts and serve. (if the pudding ends up too thick, correct the consistency by adding a little more coconut milk to it)

Have a lovely weekend!

Diwali Wishes with Stuffed Marzipan Baskets (badam ki tokri) and Marzipan Apples.

Wishing all my Indian readers a very Happy Diwali. May this festival of lights fill your lives with love, happiness and prosperity.

On this auspicious day, I have made not one, not two but three indian sweets - the more the merrier! For this one day, calories are on the backburner (literally!) I decided to just enjoy the sweets and the festival. I am sure my hubby will be the happiest when he gets back from office and sees all his favourite sweets.

Almond sweets are a must at my place for any occasion, so I decided to share this with you. Because of the chaos in the kitchen, I forgot to note down the exact proportions of the filling, but , don't worry, the filling is really easy to assemble. If, by any chance, you have some leftover - it tastes good on it’s own, or you can, like me, make some of these cute looking marzipan apples.

Without further ado (I have to rush to the kitchen now), here is the recipe.

Ingredients

For the dough

100 grams - almonds, preferably no bitter almonds

100 grams - sugar

For the filling

this is an approximate measurement

5 tsp - a mixture of finely chopped dried figs (anjeer), almond slivers, pistachio slivers

1/2 tsp - rock candy white sugar crytals (misri)

1/4 tsp - cardamom powder

a few strands of saffron

2 tsp - sugar

water

For the Marzipan Apples/Badam Apples

a few strands of saffron mixed with  a few drops of rose water (should be like a thick paste)

pistachio slivers

cloves

Method

1. Make the dough. See my recipe badam katli here.
2. Make the sugar syrup using 2 tsp of sugar and very little water. Keep aside.
3. Add the figs, almond and pistachio slivers, misri, cardamom powder and saffron strands to the sugar syrup and mix. 
4. Take a little portion of the marzipan dough and press it with your hands. Use a rolling pin and roll out into a circle unitl it is around 1 mm thick. 
5. Loosen the rolled out dough and carefully lay it into a silicon tart mould. Remove the excess dough jutting out of the mould and shape the top with your fingers.
6. Carefully remove the shaped marzipan basket from the mould.
7. Fill in the stuffing into the marzipan baskets and serve. (optional- you can also brush the top of the baskest with the saffron-rose water paste, make them look more inviting)
8. For the marzipan apples- Use the leftover dough (if you have any)
9. Take around 1 tbsp of the dough and roll it between the palms of your hands and make a small ball.
10. Brush the sides of the ball/apple with a thick saffron-rose water paste
11. Push in the clove (upside down) on the top of the apple and press gently.
12. Press the pistachio slivers on to the side of the clove.
13. Serve and enjoy.

The above mixture of dough yields approx 5 baskets and 5 apples. 

Happy Diwali and Enjoy!

Mozzarella Sage Ice Cream

What does one do when one has a lot of recipes lying in the drafts? Well, one tries to post them, one after another, and, that's exactly my plan :-)

This recipe's idea was born to my dear hubby after eating some really nice mozzarella cheese in Milan, Italy, and he told me about it very excitedly. I thought for a second and said, "huh!!! Mozzarella Icecream???" To which came the prompt reply, "Yes, why not? I think you should give it a try." I silently repeated these two words "Mozzarella Icecream" in my mind and was trying to somehow assemble the ingredients and also made a rough version of it in my mind. (though I was a little apprehensive - I thought it will either be a big hit or a major disaster)

My next step was to share my thoughts with my hubby, who immediately said, "When are you making it?" and hence this recipe was born.

Together with the roasted almonds( recipe taken from Angiesrecipe) and the distinctive taste of sage, it was indeed something quite unique and amazing.. And, I must say, both me and my hubby were more than pleased with the outcome. So, if you want to try out something experimental...just go for this one :-)

Ingredients

125 grams - buffalo mozzarella

100 grams - mascarpone

10 pcs - sage leaves, finely chopped

2 tbsp - honey

1/4 cup - low fat milk

a pinch of salt

For the roasted almonds

150 grams - almonds

1 tsp - olive oil

1 tbsp - water

1 tbsp - honey

1/8 tsp - salt

1/4 tsp - cinnamon powder

25 grams - sugar

Method

1. Place mozzarella, mascarpone, sage leaves, salt, honey and milk in a food processor and process till smooth.
2. Transfer to a plastic container, cover and freeze till half set.
3. Place the half set ice cream in the food processor and process till smooth. Transfer to the plastic container and freeze again till half set. Repeat one more time.
4. Now fill the processed ice cream in small heart shaped silicon moulds (I got 5 of them) and  put the moulds in the plastic container, cover the lid and let it set completely.
5. Unmould the ice cream atleast 10-15 minutes before serving. Garnish with sage leaves and roasted cinnamon almonds.

Roasted Cinnamon Almonds

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Place the almonds in a single layer in a lined baking tray and bake for 10-15 minutes or until slightly brown. (don't forget to stir the almonds a couple of times in between)
3. Mix the sugar, salt and cinnamon powder in a bowl and keep aside. 
4. Mix the honey, oil and water in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Add in the roasted almonds and cook stirring constantly until all the liquid has been absorbed. 
5. Transfer the almonds to a bowl, add the sugar mix and toss until they are evenly coated. 
6. Spread the almonds on a parchment paper. When cool, store at toom temperature in an air tight container. 

Enjoy!

Back after a long break with some delicious Crumpets.

Apologies for vanishing suddenly from the blog world and being away for such a long time....and especially about leaving midway my two part recipe of Saffron Plum Compote with Crumpets. So, here am I again, and here is part 2 of the 2 part recipe. 

But first, a big Thank You to all of you who have left mails with comments and wishes - It makes me feel really special and happy. I sometimes wonder about this beautiful bond of friendship we share with each other - though we have not met, we are bound by a common passion - for blogging, for good food, for sharing our thoughts, our joys and sometimes our sorrows. 

This passion connects us in a special way, and I enjoy it, like it and even miss it when I am not active.

Today's recipe was lying in my drafts for a long time...I made it with a Saffron Plum Compote (recipe here). These crumpets (recipe taken from here ) went very well with the whipped cream (mixed with a little vanilla extract and castor sugar) and the fruity saffrony flavour of the compote. And it looked really pretty too!

Hope you like the crumpets as much as we did and I promise to be a regular again!

Ingredients

112.5 grams - all purpose flour

1/4 tsp - sugar

1/8 tsp - salt

1/2 tsp - dried yeast

75 ml - warm milk

75 ml - warm water

a generous pinch of cinnamon powder

Method

1. Place the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon powder and the dried yeast in a large bowl and mix well. Pour in the warm milk and water and mix well until well combined.
2. Cover the bowl with a cling film or a plastic wrap and leave it in a warm place to rise for about an hour or until the batter doubles the volume.
3. Remove the plastic wrap and stir the batter really well. 
4. Grease lightly a non stick pan and heat the pan over a low flame. Sit the greased crumpet rings in the pan and leave to heat up for a minute.
5. Pour in the batter to fill the rings just over halfway up the sides. Cook on a low heat until plenty of small holes appear on the surface and the batter has just dried out. 
6. Remove the rings carefully and turn the crumpets to cook further for  a couple of minutes.
7. Let the crumpets cool on a wire rack.
8. Serve the crumpets with some whipped cream and saffron plum compote.

With or without the cream these crumpets were simply delicious...

and this one is for you :-)

Enjoy!

Chocolate Yogurt

Having spend a good number of years in Kolkata, one tends to develop a liking toward the local food. Bengal is known for its food and especially its sweets. I, having a pretty sweet tooth, love almost all the Bengali Mithais. One such example is mishti doi (sweet yogurt).

Mishti doi is a popular dessert in Bengal and everyone at my place loves it. A few days back when I read about the Chocolate event at Jyoti's lovely blog, one line she wrote got stuck in my head. "What I am looking for is not cakes and cookies! I want you to go beyond that." Hmmm...I thought. And then an idea struck me when I was just about to hit the bed yesterday, why not try making chocolate yogurt. I've made mishti doi a quite a number of times. The process is simple and very excitedly I went to the kitchen and started preparing this dessert. 

My hubby who was fast asleep by then, came to the kitchen and was like "are you mad" :-)I just gave him a smile and said "Chocolate Doi" and he went again to sleep.

This morning, the first thing I did was to see if this recipe was a success or not - and when I saw the yogurt, I was really thrilled.

This tasted simply great and for me anything with chocolate is always a hit :-) Make it, you'll believe it. 

Ingredients

500 ml - low fat milk, 1.5% (this makes the yogurt slightly thin, use normal milk if you like thick yogurt)

1 1/2 tbsp - sugar (more or less)

40 grams - dark chocolate 70%, roughly broken

1 tbsp - plain yogurt

Method

1. Mix the milk and the sugar and bring it to a boil.
2. Reduce the heat and simmer the milk for 7 minutes.
3. Add the roughly broken chocolate pieces and, stirring continuously, cook the milk until the chocolate melts completely.
4. Simmer the milk again for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and let it cool down to room temperature.
5. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C for 10 minutes and switch off.
6. When the milk is still slightly warm ( if you insert your finger in the milk and can hold it without getting burnt to the count of 10), add the yogurt and whisk well.
7. Pour the milk in the glass jars and cover them with aluminum foil.
8. Place the jars on the oven tray and place the tray in the center of the pre-heated oven. 
9. I left the jars in the oven overnight and the yogurt was set by next morning.

A bite of this delicious chocolate yogurt, just for you :-)

I am being featured at Nithu's Kitchen today. 

Sending this delicious Chocolate Yogurt to Let's Celebrate Sweets- Chocolate, event hosted by Jyoti and started by Nivedita. 

Enjoy!

Badam Katli / Barfi and Happy Diwali!

Wishing you all a very Happy Diwali - the Inidan festival of light. Hope this festival brings loads of luck, love and laughter. 

Sweets and festivals always go hand in hand and that certainly brings a smile to my face. I try and make traditional indian sweets and food on festivals. It makes the day special and I don't miss my loved ones back home too much. 

Badam katli or Badam Barfi is a sweet made out of almonds. It resembles very much the European marzipan, the main difference being that the indian version is without the bitter almonds.

This sweet is a must during Diwali at our place. My mother in law has been making this for years and I learned this recipe from her and ever-since, I have been making this on Diwali too.

The traditional Indian version would normally be without saffron and have a diamond shape. I didn't use the traditional diamond shape but rather cut the barfi pieces with a cookie cutter. Whatever the shape, the taste is just exceptional. Hope you like them too :-)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup - almonds, preferably no bitter almonds

1 1/4 cup - sugar (you may increase it to 1 1/2 cup if you want it extra sweet)

15-20 strands of saffron (optional)

edible silver foil (warq), optional

Method

1. Soak the almonds in water overnight.
2. Remove the almonds from the water. Add some boiling water to cover the almonds. Cover the bowl with a lid and keep for 10 minutes.
3. Drain the water and peel the almonds. The hot water makes the peeling much easier. 
4. Using a little water, make a fine paste in a mixer. Use as little water as possible - the more water you use, the longer the cooking time
5. Empty the paste in a heavy bottomed non-stick pan, add the sugar and mix.
6. Place the pan on a high flame, and cook, stirring continously, until the mixture leaves the sides of the pan. 
7. Add the strands of saffron at this stage and cook further until the mixture forms a lump. 
8. Transfer it to a tray and let it cool.
9. Using a rolling pin, roll out the almond dough to the desired thickness (I used a thickness of approximately 0.6 centimeters, although anything up to 1.5 cm should be ok) and cut with the help of a cookie cutter. 
10. Carefully put the edible silver foil, if available, on the barfi and gently press the foil onto the barfi with a piece or ball of cotton wool. 
11. Tastes completely awsome when still warm, but keeps for upto a week in an airtight container. 

Happy Diwali!