Rasgulla.

Well, Rasgulla is no strange dessert. It is a famous Bengali Sweet made from milk. I am from south India, it really was intimidating for me to make this dish for the first time. Since we always ate Rasgulla at a sweet stall or brought home a can from the grocery store. 

This time the reason to make rasagulla was unplanned!! I happened to have almost 3 cups of whole milk still left in the carton and it was the last date to consume. I was not sure to use it for drinking, instead choose to make paneer. It is fresh paneer that gave me the thought to make Rasgulla.

Ingredients:

Whole Milk- 3 cups.

Vinegar/ Lemon juice- 3 tsp.( or more to curdle the milk).

Sugar/ Water, 1:1 ( to make simple syrup). 

Cardamom-1

Cheese Cloth.

There are two steps to make this sweet dish:

First- to make the fresh paneer.

Bring whole milk to boil on a medium flame. Once the milk starts to simmer, add  vinegar or lemon juice to the milk, it will immediately curdle. Remove from heat.

Once the milk curdles strain the liquid from the milk solids. 

Since we have added vinegar or lemon juice to curdle, it may have the sourness and smell of those acids, so wash the milk solids under cold water a couple of times.

Then strain the fresh paneer using a cheese cloth. Remove most of the water. And allow it to sit for 

sometime and squeeze out anymore liquid in the paneer, don't try to make it too dry.

Once the paneer is strained well, knead the resulting paneer into a smooth ball.

 By kneading it well, paneer becomes a smooth white ball with no grittiness. (There is a picture of smooth paneer after kneading in the picture).

Next make the large cheese balls into small rounds and keep them ready.

Second Step:

In the mean time almost towards the end of making paneer, take a big boiling pot and add sugar and water to make a simple syrup, (since it need to boil for some time the quantity of syrup should me more).

Once the syrup has started to boil,  add the small paneer balls to the boiling sugar solution and cook in the solution for 10-12 minutes with the lid closed on the vessel. Keep checking the pot, in between  add the cardamom powder.

We can see that the paneer balls have puffed up and starts to float. To make sure they are done use a spoon to see if the rasgulla is a bit rubbery and does not break.

Remove from heat and cool it before serving.

Carrot Halwa.

Carrot Halwa also know as Gajar ka halwa is a famous dessert recipe from India, delicious and made with carrots, makes it nutritious too.
The best time to make carrot halwa is during winter months. It can be served as dessert to guests along with ice cream, the hot and cold combination is too good!! This Halwa can be stored for a few days in the fridge and reheated, so if you have plans of inviting guests this is a perfect make ahead dessert. Try this recipe and enjoy!!!

Ingredients: Serves 2-3 people.

Carrots-3 large.
Whole milk- 1/2 cup.
Sugar- 1/1/2 cup.( sugar can be used as per taste)
Cardamom- 1 pod.
Ghee- 4 tbsp.
Cashew and raisins.

Method: I have followed the traditional method.

Start the process by cleaning, peeling and grating the carrots.
In a heaven bottom pan, add 2 tbsp of ghee, to the hot ghee add the cashews and raisins and fry till golden brown.
Remove the fried nuts from the pan. To the same pan add the grated carrots and fry for 2-3 minutes.
Then add  whole milk to the carrots and allow the carrots to cook for about 5 minutes.
Keep stirring to avoid the base from getting burnt. The milk will evaporate and that is when you add the sugar.
Once the sugar is added the mixture will get watery and continue to cook till all the water evaporates and the halwa starts to leave the sides of the pan. At this stage add 1-2 tsp of ghee and powdered cardamom. Lastly add the fried cashew and raisins.
Halwa is ready.