Custard Powder Halwa – Guest post for Aruna Panangipally’s blog Aharam

Ever since I started blogging I adore Aruna’s work. I was delighted when I got an offer from her for a guest post.

First thing I liked about her blog is her blog name “Aharam” – what a perfect name for a food blog and the way she tells the interesting fact about the food in the Intro for each post

Aharam has a wide spread of Indian and International recipes.

If I say Indian does it justify her work?

No!!

South Indian and North Indian?

Nooo!!

State wise?

Yessss, if I start  specifying all the categories that she has covered, I am sure this post will go Endless

Looking for a festive recipe, low calorie recipe, no oil recipe etc. every search  has a result in her space

I can continue writing about her, but guess its time to hear from Aruna and visit her blog

Few words from Aruna about her space

I have been interested in cooking and collecting recipes for as long as I can remember.  In fact, it is something I imbibed from my grandmother, mother and aunts, all of whom were very interested in trying out new dishes. 🙂

ãhãram, my blog, is my attempt to catalog the recipes I love, be they recipes that are inherited or then those that I have learnt. My blog features pre-dominantly vegetarian recipes (with some egg-based recipes thrown in) from across India. You will find that I have loads of recipes from South India reflecting my ancestry (particularly, Andhra Pradesh, my native state) and those from Maharashtra, the state I grew up in. In addition, I have recipes from across other states of India and the world, reflecting my love for travel and new cultures. 🙂

You can follow Aruna on:

• WordPress: https://aahaaram.wordpress.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Aahaaram
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/Ahaaram
• Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/Aahaaram/

I was so pleased when Vidya agreed to do a guest post for me because I knew I would get “something different”, a term I hear often in my home. 🙂

Visit Aruna’s space for Custard Powder Halwa recipe

https://aahaaram.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/custard-powder-halwa-by-vidya-srinivasan-of-traditionally-modern-food/

Custard Powder Halwa 

Preparation time: 3 mins | Cooking time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Custard powder – 1 cup (I used Vanilla Flavor)

Sugar – 2 cups + ½ cup (I used light brown sugar, white sugar can also be used. Adjust sugar according to your sweetness)

Water – 4 cups

Butter/Ghee – 3 tbsp (I used butter)

Cashew nuts and Raisin – for taste

Saffron – 1/8 tsp

Salt – a pinch

Cardamom powder – 1/8 tsp

Method:

• Add a tbsp of butter to pan and when it melts and becomes hot, add cashew nut and sauté till they are golden brown. Switch off and add raisin; keep aside
• Grease a pan with melted butter/ghee and keep aside
• In a mixing bowl add custard powder, water, saffron,sugar, salt and cardamom powder; mix well without any lumps

• Take a heavy bottomed pan (I used non-stick) and transfer the mixture to the pan. Keep the pan on the stove and start cooking in high flame
• The mixture will come to boil and start to thicken, Keep stirring till it became glossy and jelly like texture

• Add remaining butter, cashew nuts and raisin; mix well and reduce the flame. Keep stirring continuously till the mixture  begins pulling away from the sides

• Transfer the halwa to the greased pan and level the top. Chill it for an hour and cut them
• Check out my other custard powder reccpe,Custard Powder Cookies

Notes:

• Food color can be added
• Halwa stays good for a week in fridge
• Any nuts of choice can be added

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Kasi Halwa (Poosanikai Halwa) – Guest Post for Sujitha Ruban

Couple of days ago Sujitha asked me to guest post for her blog. I am excited to do a guest post in Sujitha Easy Cooking blog. Like her blog name suggests, her recipes are easy for beginners. I found a wide variety of healthy recipes, yummy snacks, mouthwatering sweets, interesting cakes/ cookies and many more in Sujitha’s page. With her simple steps and step by step pictures, she makes it easy to follow her recipes.

Sujitha’s view on Traditionally Modern Food

Vidya Srinivasan is dedicated food blogger, When i request the guest post, happily she agreed and sent a sweet traditional recipe she is the Writer and Editor of Traditionallymordenfood, at first i have no clues from the blog tittle, when i have a look at her page, found some traditional Recipes with Modern touch.. great inspiring name i felt from her page.. She had a good collection of baking recipes, very interesting to read her simple step by step  instruction, as like the sweet post, vidya is such a sweet person

Thanks a lot for the opportunity Sujitha:-)

Kasi Halwa:

Ingredients:

White pumpkin – 2 Cups

Brown Sugar – 1 cup (Adjust according to your sweetness)

Ghee – 1/4 cup

Cashew and raisin – to garnish

Cardamom powder – pinch

Orange food color – pinch

Saffron – 1/8 tsp

Salt – pinch

Method:

• Grate the pumpkin and squeeze the water from the pumpkin. Keep the water for cooking pumpkin

• Add ghee to the pan and sauté the cashew nuts and raisin till cashew nuts are golden brown. Keep them aside
• In the same pan add the pumpkin water and bring to boil. When you see bubbles, add the grated pumpkin and cook in a low flame. Cook the pumpkin in a low flame till it becomes soft
  Add sugar and saffron strands. Continue cooking in medium flame

• Add food color, salt and remaining ghee and continue cooking till you see glossy texture and halwa leave the sides. Add cashew nuts, raisins and cardamom powder and mix well. Halwa is ready to serve

My Notes:

• White sugar can be used instead of brown sugar
• If the pumpkin is so watery add 1 cup of pumpkin water to cook pumpkin and add remaining water if required
• Halwa can be stored in fridge for 3-4 days and in room temperature for a day

Do checkout Kasi Halwa recipe in http://www.sujithaeasycooking.com/2015/01/guest-post-by-vidya-srinivasan.html

Stay in touch with Sujitha

Blog link: http://www.sujithaeasycooking.com/

FB link: https://www.facebook.com/sujithaeasycooking

Twitter link: https://twitter.com/Easycookingsuji

Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/sujitharuban/easy-cooking/

Google+ : https://plus.google.com/u/0/+SuchiSm/posts

Beetroot Halwa

When it comes to halwa, beetroot/carrot halwa is all time favorite. Even if you are not a big fan of beetroot, I am sure you can’t say no to Halwa. Like I mentioned in Carrot Payasam As a kid, I was a picky eater and always said no to beetroot. After tasting beetroot in this form, I started liking beetroot 🙂 Usually I do with white sugar but for change have tried with brown sugar and I didn’t feel any difference in taste.

Beetroot Halwa

Preparation Time : 10 min | Cooking Time :25 min

Recipe Category : Dessert/Sweet

Ingredients:

Beetroot – 2 cup (Peeled and grated/chopped in chopper)

Brown Sugar – 1/2 cup (Adjust according to your sweetness)

Milk – 2 cup

Ghee/Butter – 2 tbsp

Condensed Milk – 3 tbsp

Cardamom Powder – 1/4 tsp

Cashews – to garnish

Method:

• Add butter to pan, when the butter is hot, add cashew and roast till they are golden brown and keep aside
• In the same pan, add beetroot. Saute till the raw smell goes, for about 3-5 minutes

• Add milk and allow it to boil in medium flame. Mix well and cook till milk is absorbed fully. It took 7-10 mins for me

•  Add brown sugar and continue cooking till sugar dissolces completely

• Add condensed milk and cook till moisture is aborbed and halwa consistency is reached

My Notes:

• Same procedure can be followed for carrot/pumpkin halwa
• Adding condensed milk is optional, but it gave nice flavor to the dish

 

 

Mango Halwa

It’s hard to stay away from mangoes during this time of the year, and having a sweet tooth, I couldn’t help but make Mango Halwa. This Halwa is not at all a guilty pleasure. It contains Palm sugar (Jaggery) which has less calories compare to white sugar (Brown sugar can also be used instead).

Mango Halwa:

Preparation Time : 10 mins | Cooking Time : 20 mins | Serves : 2

Recipe Category: Dessert

Ingredients:

Mango Puree – 2 cups

Ghee – 2 tbsp

Palm Sugar – 1/4 cup

Raisins – as needed

Cashew – for garnish

Method:

• In a heavy bottomed pan, add ghee and saute raisins for 30 seconds. In medium flame, add mango puree and keep stirring for 5 min. Add jaggery and keep stirring. Cook for 15 – 20 mins till it thickens and approaches halwa consistency

• The key is to switch off before it reaches halwa consistency, as the halwa will thicken a bit after it is switched off. Garnish with cashews

Check my other Mango Recipes,

Mango Mousse

Mango Kulfi

Mango Ice Cream

Mango Milkshake