7 Cups Burfi/ 7 Cups Fudge

The first time I had seven cups burfi  is when a neighbor of mine shared it on an occasion. It tasted very delicious and yet different from kaju katli. When asked she told me that it was 7 cups.I was thrilled by the name and googled it to find out the recipe.After seeing the ingredients I understood why it got the name.So I tried it immediately on the following weekend.It is a very easy one as there is no need to boil sugar to a string consistency .Just mix all the ingredients together and keep stirring till the desired consistency for burfi is reached.So it is a fail proof one for all the beginners out there who are trying to make burfi for the first time.

Makes around 35 small burfis

Preparation time:30 minutes

Ingredients:

Gram flour or besan-1 cup

Cashew-1 cup(or coconut flakes-1 cup)

milk-1 cup

Ghee-1 cup

Sugar- 3 cups

Procedure:

1.Grind the cashews to a fine paste.

2.Dry roast the gram flour or besan till you get a nice aroma.Do not brown the flour. Add the cashew paste to it.

3.Now add all the other ingredients to this besan mixture and mix well till no lumps are formed.Keep the flame to a medium and keep stirring.

4.Keep stirring till the mixture thickens and starts leaving the sides of the pan or wok.

5.Pour this mixture on to a greased plate and spread it evenly.Once it cools down slightly ,cut it into squares of equal shape.

6.Store the yummy 7 cups burfi in a dry jar or container.Stays good for 3-4 days when stored at room temperature.

Tips:

* You can add coconut instead for cashews if you like coconut.

* Do not reduce the amount of sugar.

* You can add cardamom powder for an enhanced flavor.

* Roasting the gram flour adds a nice flavor tot the dish.

Eggless Chocochip Cookies

Chocochip cookies were always on my to cook list ,but somehow it got postponed .Finally with some encouragement from my sister -in-law to bake something in her vintage stove top oven I finally decided to give these cookies a try and got the recipe from here and tailor made it according to my taste.These Chocochip cookies were absolutely crunchy and make you want to eat more again and again .we finished this batch in a day itself.

Makes:15-17 cookies

Preparation time :30 mins

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour or plain flour
• ⅓ cup powdered sugar (I used turbinado sugar)
• ⅓ cup butter,at room temperature.
• ½ cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• A little milk to make the dough

Procedure:

1.Preheat oven at 180C.In a bowl cream the butter and sugar together .

2.Then add the vanilla extract and the flour and mix well.

3.The mixture will look like below (like crumbled).Add the chocochips and a little milk.

4.Mix well and gather it like a cookie dough.Then take a small portion of the dough in hand and flatten it.

5.Place the flattened dough on the baking tray which is greased priorly. Bake them at 180 C for 10-12 mins or till the cookies are baked.The cookies will be soft initially but after it cools down it turns very crunchy.Yummy Chocochip Cookies are ready to be served. Store them in an airtight container.

Tips:

• The original recipe called for 1/4 tsp of baking powder but I omitted it. The cookies came out well even without adding it.You can add it if you wish.
• For a dark Chocochip cookie you can add 1 tbsp of cocoa powder to the dough. 

Mum's Homemade Fruit Jam(No preservatives)

This is my 100 th post and I am glad it's very sweet.I am not a great fan of jams but son indeed is .But I don prefer the store brought ones though they are tasty.They are loaded with chemicals like food colors,preservatives and artificial flavors which trigger allergy and wheezing in kids.As I was refusing to buy my son jam,my mom sent me a bottle of delicious homemade mixed fruit jam with no preservatives and has the goodness of the real fruits .My son loved it and the bottle got over in a month.I wanted to try it and got an opportunity to make it this time at my mom's place where I am right now , spending my summer vacation .

Preparation time :30 mins

Prepares:150g approx

Ingredients:

Mixed fruit pulp (papaya,chickoo,mango,banana,Apple)-2cups

Sugar-2 cups

Lemon juice-1 tsp

Tonovin essence -1 tsp

Procedure :

1.Heat a wok and add the fruit pulp and sugar and keep mixing well in medium flame .

2.Once all the sugar has dissolved,add the lemon juice and mix well.

3.Once the mixture starts to thicken ,add the tonovin essence.

4.Keep on mixing and the mixture turns glossy and dark in color. Simmer the flame.

5.Glass jars are generally preferred for jams and one must wash it with soap and hot water and air dry it beforehand.As I didn't have an appropriate glass  jar I used a stainless steel one.But please do not use plastic ones even if they are food grade.The  right stage for the jam to be ready is when you  drop a spoon of jam on a plate it should stay still like a pearl or not runny.Then our jam is ready.

6.Transfer the jam to the jar and once it cools down you can refrigerate it .Stays well for upto 2 months in the fridge and when used a clean and dry spoon for use.Enjoy this delicious ,healthy and wholesome homemade mixed fruit jam .

Tips:

*If you miss the pearl stage then the jam may get too rubbery and difficult to spread.

*I didn't add pineapple as I would like it to eat as a pineapple jam.

*Glass jars are always better to store jam.It should be clean and dry.

*Tonovin essence adds a nice flavor and color to the jam so better to add it.

Musk Melon Granita

The scorching heat makes us to loose our energy fast and leaves us feeling drained .All one would want is to drink or eat something cool.This musk melon granita leaves you refreshed and is a natural cooler.Kids would love to have them during their holidays .Its very simple  to make and yet an appealing recipe.

Serves :6

Preparation time:15 mins and time to freeze

Ingredients:

Musk melon-1 no( medium size)

Turbinado sugar or powdered jaggery-2 tbsp or more if you are sweet toothed.

Honey-2 tsp for every serve 

Mint leaves-to garnish 

Procedure:

1.Peel the skin of the musk melon and chop them into medium size slices.Discard the seeds.In a juice blender,add the chopped fruits and sugar and beat them till they are puréed well.

2.Transfer the purée to a container and freeze for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight.

3.After a few hours give it a stir.once it is completely frozen ,use a fork or spoon to scoop out the granita .

4.Serve it in a bowl ,drizzle 2 tsp of honey on top and garnish it with fresh mint leaves .Serve chilled.

Nan Khatai -An Indian Flavoured Cookie

Only after entering the blogging field ,I came to know about these delicious cookies-Nan Khatai. Also I read that these  cookies are made during festivals like Diwali in the north part of our country.They are more Indian in flavour as we use gram flour or besan ,ghee and cardamom to make these cookies.The pistachios on top add a very nice crunch to these nan khatais .So I made these during last Diwali for the first time and everyone at home enjoyed it a lot.

Preparation time:40 mins

Makes about 25 cookies

Ingredients:

Maida or All purpose flour - 1/2 cup
Whole Wheat Flour or atta- 1/2 cup
Besan Or Gram flour - 1/2 cup
Melted Ghee - 1/2 cup
Powdered Sugar - 1/2 cup
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Powder - 1/2 tsp
Baking Soda - 1/4 tsp
Milk - 2 tbsp
Pistachios -few

Procedure:

1.Sift all the flours along with the baking powder and the baking soda in a bowl.Grind the cardamom pods with the sugar in a mixer to a fine powder.

2.Transfer the sugar and cardamom mixture to the flours and mix well. 

3.Chop the pistachios finely and add the melted ghee to the flour mixture and mix well .

4.Mix well and gather it to make a dough.If the dough is too dry then you can add a tsp

of milk.

5.Take a small amount of the dough and make a ball and press it slightly in the form of a cookie. Meanwhile preheat the oven to 180 degree C .Top each cookie with few pistachios and line it on the baking tray .

6.Bake them for 18-20 mins at 180 C till it is done and bottom of the cookie is golden brown .

7.The delicious and crunchy Nan Khatais are ready to be served.After it cools down transfer the cookies to an air tight container .

Tips:

• You can make these cookies with only maida and besan alone.In that case replace whole wheat flour with maida.
•  You can add melted butter to make these but ghee adds a rich and desi flavour to the Nan Khatais .

Rose Falooda shots

A long time craving of mine has been satiated finally! Yes,I love faloodas and always wanted to try once at home. Of course I didn't have the long and slim glasses for falooda but still wanted to go ahead with it and voila -Rose Falooda Shots! The sabja seeds are a natural way too cool your body and has many medicinal properties too.This is a great way to add them to your diet. It's very simple to make and ideal to beat the summer heat!

Preparation time :30 mins 

Makes 5 shots 

Ingredients:

Full cream milk-1/2 Litre

Rose milk essence-3 drops

Sugar-5 tbsp or more if you are sweet toothed

Sabja seeds or chia seeds - 3 tbsp

Boiled vermicelli -1/2 cup

Mixed nuts-3 tbsp

Vanilla icecream -as required

Procedure :

1.Boil the milk and simmer it for ten minutes in a thick bottomed vessel.Add the sugar and stir it till it dissolves .Add the rose milk essence.Mix well and refrigerate the mixture.

2.Soak the sabja seeds in water till it turns transparent on the outside .Keep the boiled vermicelli ready too.

3.Dry roast the mixed nuts till it turns light golden in colour.

4.Now take the small glass cups ,add a spoon of soaked sabja seeds and boiled vermicelli .Then add the rose milk up-to three quarters of the glass.

5.Lastly add a scoop of vanilla ice-cream and top it with roasted nuts and serve immediately .Enjoy the cool and yummy Rose Falooda Shots.

Tips:

• I didn't add jelly,you can add it if you wish.
• You can add cut fruits also to the Falooda.
• I have added only cashew and almonds.You can use pistachio ,pecans and walnut too .

Karadayan Nonbu Adai(Sweet Adai)-Sweet Rice Flour Dumplings

Karadayan Nonbu or Savitri Vratham is a traditional Tamilnadu festival of fasting wherein married women will pray for the wellness and long life of their husbands. This nonbu should be done exactly in the time when tamil month 'Masi' ends and the next month 'Panguni' starts.
These adais are very easy to make,healthy and tastes very delicious too.So here I am presenting the most easy recipe for sweet adai(savory to follow soon).During my childhood days,when I celebrate this festival with my mom I used to be very excited because my mom makes these yummy and hot 
Nonbu adais(sweet and savory) topped with a dollop of butter.I absolutely loved it and even my friends liked it when I took it to college one day.From that day I used to take a batch of these adais to college on every Karadayan Nonbu.My friends relished my moms best nonbu adais.

Making time:30 mins

Makes:12-15 small adais

Ingredients:

Raw rice flour(homemade or store bought )-1 cup

Jaggery-3/4 cup(or 1 cup if you are sweet toothed )

Karamani or black eyed beans-2 tbsp

Cardamom powder-1 tsp

Ghee-2 tbsp

Coconut slices -few 

Procedure :

1.Roast the karamani till you get a nice aroma and add 1 and 1/2 cups of water and boil the beans.

2.Boil the powdered jaggery in one cup of water until it dissolves.Then switch off the flame and strain the jaggery to remove the impurities .

3.Keep the rice flour ready.To the boiled beans add the coconut slices,rice flour and jaggery mixture and keep mixing it on low flame.

4.Keep on mixing till it thickens and comes around without sticking to the sides of the pan.At this stage add the cardamom powder and ghee.

5.Switch off the flame and transfer it to a plate.Grease your hands with some ghee and take a small portion of the mixture and make small patties or dumplings.

6.Steam all the patties or dumplings for 10-15 mins or till it is done.

7.Hot and delicious sweet adai is ready to served with a dollop of butter.

Tips:

*I used the store bought rice flour.You can use the homemade one also.

*If you are sweet toothed then use 1 cup of jaggery instead 3/4 th cup.

*You can soak the karamani prior to reduce the cooking time .