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• Rice Dishes
• Salads & Sambals
• Desserts

Sweet Delicacies

Most of the desserts here are for special occasions and not everyday fare. Therefore you will find ingredients are fattening and high in calories. My philosophy is everything in moderation. So long as you don't have platefuls of these calorie laden goodies you should be okay. Diabetics should exercise care and rely on your doctors advise about whether you can eat these rich desserts. Many contain large amounts of butter and sugar. For others it may be acceptable if you substitute more healthy alternatives to ingredients like sugar, butter and milk.

Diwali or Festival of Lights is one such special occasion when most Hindus celebrate the festival with lots of good and rich food, desserts, snacks and sweetmeats. The recipes here are a few of the traditional fare that is usually made at Diwali.

Although I have mentioned brand names such as Klim Milk powder, please substitute for other products that are full cream milk powder. I usually use Mawa powder that I buy from the local Indian stores.

You will note that many recipes call for ground cardamom, also known as elachi, ground nutmeg, and colored sliced almonds. These items can be prepared ahead of time. Although cardamom powder is sold in stores, I prefer to grind my own as the smell and flavor is so much more robust. Ground nutmeg can be bought at stores or you can grate a nutmeg to have that fresh, strong flavor.

I use a coffee grinder just for spices. Most Indian grocery stores stock cardamom. Rinse, dry and then grind in the coffee grinder. I use the skin of the cardamom as well.

Some of the recipes call for ghee ( a form of melted butter). I have included a recipe on how to make ghee. For those who wish to skip this ingredient regular, butter works very well too.

Ghee is used in the making of rotis, biryani's and many sweet and savory dishes. I mainly use it for roti and occasionally add a tablespoon to curries or dhal. For those not familiar with Indian cooking, ghee is clarified butter. A description of how ghee is made is included, taught to me by my mother. If you do not want to make ghee, you may use regular butter.

Ghee can be made ahead of time. Many cooks use spoonfuls of ghee to add to the rich flavor of curries. Because of health reasons this is not promoted on a regular basis, but using 1 or 2 tablespoons of butter or ghee occasionally, (perhaps for a special occasion), does enhance the taste of dishes, without adding to your waistline. But it is best that you follow your doctors orders and avoid using ghee or butter if it will lead to health problems.

Ghee does not have to be refrigerated but if you have not used it in over a month you should refrigerate it as it can get rancid

Burfi

This fudge like sweetmeat is a favorite of mine & many friends and relatives. The ingredients are a combination of milk powder, sugar, butter/ghee, almond powder and spices. Details are in the recipe below. There are a number of ways to make Burfi but the quickest and easiest and extremely delicious recipe is the one that my sister Maya gave to me.

Burfi is really very easy to do. Just be careful to stir frequently and to have it on a low - medium temperature. To decorate the burfi you may chop up some sliced almond and sprinkle it on top of the burfi that just comes out of the pot. Later it hardens, making it difficult for the almonds to stick to the burfi.

If you like the effect of color, buy food color and the separate the almonds into different batches (about a tablespoon each) and add a few drops of food color. Green, red and orange are commonly used. Then dry it in the microwave for about 3- 6 minutes or until the almonds feel firm.

Burfi keeps well for about a week. After that refrigerate it or keep it in the freezer. It lasts indefinitely.

Penda

Penda is a mixture of butter, milk powder, cream, sugar and spices. It is very rich and consumed in small amounts. It is very tasty and very easy to make. There is no cooking required at all. When rolling the shapes take care not to over mix the dough as you will get oily Penda. Once you have created the ball, just shape it conically and decorate with colored almonds. My sister Maya makes these beautifully and she shared her recipe with me.

Ghee

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Channa Magaj

This recipe calls for Channa flour/Chick pea & also known as Gram flour. So this part is good, as chick peas are high in protein. The flour is then braised in ghee and mixed with milk, cream, powdered sugar & spices to produce a most delicious fudge like sweetmeat. It is one of my favorites as well. Once again, this is very easy to make. The only stage where you need to be very observant is when the flour is being cooked in ghee until it is a golden brown color.

Cook on a low heat to ensure it does not burn. Follow the recipe for details.

This recipe was given to my by my friend Mahendri Raidoo. It is her mother's recipe. While listening to South African, Radio Lotus, I picked up a very good hint from a professional chef. He suggested adding Nestle cream to the final mix. I tried this and really like this addition as it gives a smoother texture with a nice sheen as well. I used a little more than half the tin of cream. When you use it, go carefully, add half a can, mix and see if you need anymore.

Poli

Mmmmmm!!, another one of my favorites. This delicacy takes a bit longer to do but if you do it with at least 2 friends it goes quickly and you can have fun doing it as well. The only danger is that by the end you may have eaten it all.

Poli is like pastry which is filled with a delicious mixture and then deep friend. There are many variations of Poli but this recipe works well and is really yummy. Follow the recipe for details.

Simply Delicious Shortbread

This is a very tasty biscuit, as we call it in South African and cookies in the USA. I use a recipe that is listed in the Western Province Preparatory School, Recipe Book,Bon Appetit. I have always had good results with this recipe and it has become a family favorite. It is described as a prize winning recipe and was submitted by the Taylor family of Cape Town, South Africa.

Goolab Jamun

This sweet, tasty, finger shaped delicacy is also known as Goolab Jamboo. It is a very rich and similar to a doughnut. This sweetmeat can be made in 45 minutes for the quantity in the recipe below. If you have friends or family to help it goes even quicker as there are a few steps involved. This takes a little more work than the previous sweetmeats.

Prepare all the utensils you will need ahead of time. For frying you will need 2 sets of slotted spoons as well as long handled spoons. One set is to help scoop fried goolab jamun onto slotted spoon. The other set is to remove the jamun from the syrup

Prepare a tray to receive the goolab jamun and layer the bottom with about a cup of dessicated coconut. As you continue to add jamun to the tray sprinkle a fresh dose of coconut. This prevents sticking and gives a nice appearance.

Home Made Kulfi Ice-Cream

Pistachio and Milky Kulfi Ice Cream

If you have looked at the previous recipes you may well know that I love desserts. Kulfi ice cream is another dish that I really like a lot. I used to buy it from the local Indian grocers until I learned to make a version of it that is really, really good

My friend Aicha Hayat made this wonderful dessert, in addition to a delicious dinner that I really enjoyed. She was very kind to give me the recipe which I have since adapted. But the credit for the basic formula which is somewhat unusual, belongs to Aicha.

The unusual ingredient is the use of bread. Aicha suggested using white bread but said that she has also used wholewheat bread. The Kulfi always turns out well and a little nutty with wholewheat bread. I have used a pistachio flavor pudding as well. You can try just about any flavors you prefer. This is the recipe I devised based on Aicha's recipe

Please note that I have chosen to divide the basic mix into 2 containers and then added the ingredients to sweeten them separately. If you are doing just one batch then adjust the amount of sweet products according to your taste.

Badam or Almond Laddoo

Another delicious yet very easy to make sweetmeat. It is made with a mixture of ground almonds, milk powder, syrup and spices. You may grind your almonds at home or buy it from the supermarkets. My local grocers have a machine where one can make on'e own peanut or almond butter. I usually buy the ground almond from there.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoy using these recipes to create interesting and delicious desserts. Of course not all desserts have to be made. Eating fruit is very refreshing, delicious and much better for everyone's health. The next series will be recipes using fruit that make really yummy desserts.

There must be many of you who have dishes that you are experts at. If you would like to share your recipe and have it up on the internet, please send me an email at: or reach me via the Contact link,

The recipes should be maybe whatever you enjoy and think that others will enjoy as well. Remember to send pictures of the dish as well as one of yourselves. Happy cooking