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Five must have desserts which completes Eid

Rida Lodhi
05 Jul, 2016
Life & Style
Photo: FILE Photo: FILE
WEB DESK: Eid-ul-Fitr is all about being with your loved ones and having some quality time together. Aftera whole month of fasting, Eid is also about treating yourself with delicious foods and treats.
Whenever anyone say Eid, the mind instantly goes over to soemthing sweet. So, here we have five must have desserts this Eid.

1. SHEER KHURMA

Photo: FILE Photo: FILE
Ingredients (240 ml cup used)
  • 5 cups full fat milk / whole milk
  • 75 grams of vermicelli / seviyan
  • 2 ½ tbsp sugar (optional, replace with mashed soft dates)
  • ½ cup chopped dates
  • ½ cup nuts (cashews, pista, chironji, badam)
  • 2 tbsp. raisins
  • ghee as needed (2 to 4 tbsp)
  • â…› tsp elaichi / cardamom powder
  • 1 tsp rose water (optional)
  • few saffron strands optional
 Instructions
  1. Dry roast nuts in ghee until golden. Saute raisins as well and set aside.
  2. In the same pan, fry vermicelli till golden. Set this aside as well.
  3. Bring milk to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes stirring often to prevent burning.
  4. Add dates to a bowl and add milk to soak them. Set aside.
  5. Add vermicelli to the boiling milk and cook until done.
  6. Add sugar and stir.
  7. Add cardamom powder. Stir well. Off the heat and add dates along with milk.
  8. Add nuts and raisins along with ghee.

2. SEVAIYYAN

Photo: FILE Photo: FILE
Ingredients
  • 1 or 1.5 cups broken vermicelli/seviyan
  • 500 ml milk
  • 3 tbsp sugar - add more or less for your preferred sweetness
  • 2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter
  • 4-5 green cardamom pods
  • 3-4 cloves
  • 7-8 roasted or fried unsalted almonds, chopped or
  • 7-8 roasted or fried cashew nuts, chopped
  • 2 tsp raisins or
  • any dry fruits of your choice
 how to make the recipe:
  1. heat ghee in a pan.
  2. fry the cloves and cardamom till the release their aroma in the ghee.
  3. now add the vermicelli/seviyan and fry till they become golden brown.
  4. pour the milk and let it come to a boil.
  5. add sugar and mix well.
  6. lower the flame and let the milk simmer for 5-7 minutes till the seviyan gets cooked.
  7. lastly add chopped almonds or any dry fruits.
  8. serve the seviyan hot, warm or cold.
  9. if serving cold, then refrigerate the seviyan and then serve later.

3. GULAB JAMON

Photo: FILE Photo: FILE
Ingredients
For the Gulab Jamuns:
  • 1 cup milk powder
  • ¼ cup all purpose flour or maida
  • 1 tsp oil or ½ tsp ghee
  • a pinch of salt (optional)
  • a pinch of baking soda
  • 1 to 2 tbsp yogurt
  • a few blanched pistachio or almond slices for garnishing
For The Sugar Syrup:
  • 2 cups water
  • 1.5 cups sugar
  • 3-4 green cardamoms, husked & crushed or powdered
  • a pinch of saffron/kesar (optional)
  • 1 tsp rose water (optional)
Instructions
Preparing the Sugar Solution:
  1. mix water, sugar, cardamom and saffron.
  2. keep this sugar solution on fire and cook till you get a syrup consistency.
  3. there should be no thread formation in the sugar solution.
  4. stir in the rose water and keep aside.
Preparing the Jamuns:
  1. first mix the milk powder, all purpose flour, soda in a bowl.
  2. add oil or ghee and just 1 tbsp of yogurt.
  3. mix and keep on adding little of the yogurt to get a soft sticky mixture.
  4. the dough should not be crumbly or dry. if it is then add some yogurt.
  5. make smooth small balls from the dough.
  6. heat the oil and the reduce the flame to low.
  7. add the balls and fry them stirring often to get even color.
  8. when they become golden, remove from a slotted spoon and add them to the sugar syrup.
  9. let them soak in the sugar syrup for atleast 1-2 hours.
  10. gulab jamuns can be served warm or cold. if they are at room temperature, then warm in the microwave and serve gulab jamun topped with sugar syrup.

4. KHEER

Photo: FILE Photo: FILE
ingredients
  • 1 litre full fat organic milk
  • ¼ cup basmati rice
  • 5 to 6 tbsp sugar or as required
  • 6 green cardamoms/hari elaichi, powdered
  • a pinch of saffron/kesar
  • 15-20 almonds/badam, blanched and sliced
  • 12-15 cashews/kaju
  • 1 tbsp golden raisins
Instructions
  1. rinse the rice till the water runs clears of the starch.
  2. soak the rice in enough water for 30 minutes.
  3. heat milk and let it come to a boil.
  4. meanwhile drain the rice and keep aside.
  5. reduce the flame and add the rice.
  6. stir and simmer the milk and let the rice grains cook.
  7. the whole process of cooking the rice in the milk takes about approx 35-37 minutes on a low flame.
  8. you want the rice to really cook well and the kheer also thickened somewhat.
  9. after the rice is added, add the sugar.
  10. stir and continue to stir often so that lumps are not formed.
  11. scrape the sides of the pan and add this dried milk into the pan.
  12. meanwhile in a microwave safe bowl take the almonds and cover it with water.
  13. microwave on high for 2-3 minutes.
  14. let the almonds cool and then peel them.
  15. slice them along with the cashews. rinse the raisins and keep aside.
  16. take the cardamoms in a mortar-pestle and then powder them finely.
  17. remove the peels and keep the powdered cardamom aside.
  18. when the rice is almost ¾th done, add the almonds, cashews,cardamom powder and saffron.
  19. cook further till the rice grains are completely cooked.
  20. the kheer would also thicken by then.
  21. remember to keep on scraping the sides and adding the dried milk from the sides in the simmering kheer.
  22. switch off the flame and add the raisins. stir.
  23. you can serve the rice kheer, hot or warm. or pour in serving bowls and refrigerate.
  24. this rice kheer stays good for 1-2 days in the refrigerator

5. SHAHI TUKRA

Photo: FILE Photo: FILE
Ingredients
For Rabri:
  • 4 cups milk or 1 litre full fat whole milk
  • 2 to 2.5 tbsp sugar or as required
  • 3 tbsp milk powder (optional) or ¼ tsp cardamom powder, a pinch of saffron
  • 1 tbsp masala milk powder (optional)
  • 1 tsp kewra (pandanus) water or 1 tsp rose water or a drop of kewra essence or rose essence
  • a pinch of saffron/kesar strands or saffron powder
For Sugar Syrup:
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup water
  • 4 green cardamoms powdered in mortar pestle or ¼ tsp cardamom powder or 1 tsp rose water or a drop of rose essence
For Pan Frying Bread:
  • 5 to 6 slices of bread (white/brown/whole wheat or milk bread)
  • 2 tbsp ghee/clarified butter (1 tbsp for frying each batch of bread, add more if required)
For Garnish:
  • 12-15 almonds/badam, blanched and sliced
  • a few strands of saffron (optional)
  • 10 to 12 pistachios, blanched and sliced
Instructions:
Blanching the Dry Fruits:
  1. first heat a cup of water till it begins to boil in a microwave or stove top or electric heater.
  2. add the pistachios and almonds to the hot water.
  3. cover and keep aside for 30 mins.
  4. then peel both and slice them. keep aside.
Preparing the Rabri or Sweet Creamy Thickened Milk:
  1. in a broad thick bottomed pan or sauce pan or a kadai take 1 litre of full fat whole milk and bring its first boil.
  2. then add milk powder (i used nestle brand) . the addition of milk powder reduces the cooking time of rabri. milk powder is not essential and if you don't have then also its fine. just that you will have to simmer the milk for some more minutes.
  3. add masala milk powder (this was homemade one). again optional and if you don't have just add a pinch of crushed saffron and ¼ tsp cardamom powder.
  4. remove the clotted cream/malai which forms on top of the milk and add it back to the milk. also keep on scraping the dried milk from the sides and add them back to the milk.
  5. do stir and scrape often so that the milk does not get browned or burnt from the bottom as well as the sides.
  6. keep on simmering, stirring, removing the clotted cream and scraping.
  7. switch off when the milk has reduced and become thickened.
  8. add sugar. stir well so that the sugar dissolves.
  9. next add crushed saffron or saffron powder along with kewra water (pandanus water). skip this step, if you have added saffron before. you can also add sliced almonds and pistachios here. i did not add as i have already added homemade masala milk powder, which is finely ground dry fruits with a few fragrant spices. substitute kewra water with edible rose water or rose essence.
  10. the consistency and texture of the rabdi is shown above in pic 10.
  11. it will take about 1 hour for the milk to thicken on a low flame.
Pan Frying the Bread Slices:
  1. slice the crusts of the bread. cut them into squares, rectangles or triangles.
  2. heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a flat pan, tava or frying pan.
  3. place the bread slices and on a low to medium heat toast them.
  4. when one side is browned, flip and toast the other side.
  5. flip once or twice more to get an even golden color and browning.
  6. drain the bread slices on paper towels.
  7. add 1 tbsp ghee again and toast the remaining batch. keep all the toasted bread side.
Preparing Sugar Syrup:
  1. mix ½ cup of sugar with ¼ cup water in a pan. you can begin with the sugar syrup when you start to toast bread slices.
  2. keep the sugar solution on a low heat.
  3. the mixture would start to come to a boil.
  4. cook till you get a one thread consistency in the sugar syrup.
  5. switch off the flame, when one thread consistency is reached, add cardamom powder and stir.
  6. in case the syrup cools and crystallizes before you soak the bread in it, then just add about 1 to 1.5 tbsp water and reheat the syrup.
Assembling the Shahi Tukra:
  1. now dip the bread slices in the sugar syrup. with the help of a spoon or small tongs, coat the bread slices evenly with the sugar syrup. if this is difficult for you, then just pour the sugar syrup evenly on a neatly arranged bed of bread slices.
  2. arrange the sugar syrup soaked bread slices neatly in a serving tray or plate.
  3. pour the rabri on the sugar syrup coated bread slices.
  4. garnish with sliced blanched almonds and pistachios.
  5. serve the rich royal shahi tukra.
  6. if not serving, then keep in the fridge. if you plan to add silver foil (chandi ka varak) then place it at the time of serving, whether serving chilled or warm or at room temperature.

 

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