Give Your Diet a Miss This Winter(2020): Warm and Delicious Indian Sweets to Try This Winter

• Method–

  Soak the dal in enough water for 3 hours and then drain well. Blend it in a mixer to a coarse paste with 1 tbsp water and keep it aside. Next, dissolve the saffron strands in 1 tbsp warm milk and keep aside. Now, heat the ghee in a deep kadhai, add the dal paste and cook on a medium flame for 25 minutes, stirring it occasionally. Add the cups of milk and warm water to it and stir it well, cooking on a medium flame for 5-7 minutes, stirring continuously. Now, add the sugar, mix it all well and cook for another 5-7 minutes on medium flame with continued stirring. Add the saffron milk mix, cardamom powder and mix well, cooking for further 4 minutes on medium heat, stirring continuously. Serve it hot with a garnish of the almond slivers.

Method –

• Begin by mixing water, sugar and elaichi powder in a pot, and boil the syrup till it turns slightly sticky. Turn off the heat before it goes to a 1 string consistency. Add the rose water to it and mix. Set aside. Now fluff up the maida in a jar with a fork and measure it accurately. Mix it with milk powder and soda in a bowl, and mix it uniformly. Add the ghee to it and mix well. In another small bowl, mix some yogurt and 2tbsp milk and then pour 1.5 tbsp of it into the flour mix. Bring the flour together and knead it into a dough. If it becomes too dry, you can add some milk and curd till there’s a smooth dough. The dough turns sticky, grease your fingers and make a ball. Ensure the dough isn’t soggy and is smooth without any cracks.
• Divide the dough into 14-18 equal sizes pieces and roll into smooth balls. Now, heat the ghee in a pan on medium heat and check on the syrup for its hot texture. Now, add the balls to the medium hot oil and fry them on a medium flame for a minute or two and then lower the heat, frying the balls till they turn golden. Keep stirring gently to fry the balls uniformly. Now add the balls to the hot (not too hot) syrup and allow them to be for about 3 hours. Garnish the gulab jamuns with the chopped pistachios.

Method –

• Mix the apples, berries, sugar, butter and honey in a baking dish to begin with and in a separate dish, mix the crumble ingredients. Lightly spread the crumble ingredients over the apple berry mix and bake in the oven at 180°C for ½ hour. Serve the crumble hot with vanilla ice-cream!

Method –

• Wash the carrots, peel and then grate them. Next, chop the mixed nuts and then fry them in 1 tbsp ghee until they turn slightly golden. Add the raisins and fry till they turn plump. Remove it all to a plate and keep it aside. Now boil the milk in a heavy bottom pan, add the grated carrots and cook them on medium heat, stirring frequently. Don’t leave the pot unattended as the milk can get scorched. When the milk evaporates completely add sugar and stir it well. As the sugar releases moisture the halwa will become gooey. Sauté the halwa well in ghee until the moisture evaporates and when the halwa emits a delicious aroma and thickens, its ready to be sprinkled with elaichi powder and garnished with the nuts and raisins.

Method –

• Preheat the oven at 180°C and grease 4 (250ml) molds, lining the bases with a small circle of baking paper. Place the chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, stirring it until the chocolate melts and turns smooth. Set it aside then and let it cool down a bit. Now, place the eggs and the egg yolks in a blender and whisk on high power for about 5 minutes and then fold the cooled down chocolate mix into the egg blend. Fold in flour next, and fill the molds to half with the batter, topping with 3 cherries in each mold. Top the remaining batter in the molds and then bake for about 9 minutes or till the tops turn firm with a molten center. Remove the molds from the oven and let them cool for 5 minutes before inverting the puddings on warmed plates. Dust with cocoa and top each pudding with the remaining cherries, serve them with vanilla bean ice cream.

Method–

• Grease a rectangular tray with ghee and keep aside. Now, in a heavy bottom kadhai, dry roast the sesame seeds on low heat till they turn brown and set aside. Next, combine the sugar, ghee and 2 tbsp water and cook on medium heat till it turns thick and syrupy. Take the mix off the heat and fold the cashews and roasted mix, mixing it well. Then transfer the greased tray, levelling it with a large flat spatula. While still hot/warm, cut in slices and then separate them when the pieces cool down. Serve or store in an airtight container.

Method –

• Preheat the oven at 180°C and butter your baking dish. In a bowl, whisk the flour, salt and baking powder together and in another bowl, mix the sugar cup and oil together. Add the eggs to this mix and whisk it well and then add the vanilla extract. Now, fold in the flour mix and spread it evenly in the prepared baking dish. In a separate bowl, mix the cinnamon and remaining tbsps. of sugar and then add the apples and lemon juice to it. Put the apples on the top of the batter, pressing them gently into the batter and let it bake for ½ hour or until a toothpick inserted into the cake’s center comes out clean. Serve this delicious Apple and Cinnamon Cake with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce.

Method –

• Keep the milk to boil on medium heat in a heavy bottom pan, stirring it occasionally. Once it's boiled, turn the heat to low flame and then squeeze the lemon juice into the milk. Stirring gently for a couple of minutes, let the milk curdle on low heat. Now take a colander and a put muslin cloth over it. When the water separates from the milk, switch the heat off and pour the pan contents into the colander/cloth and with a spatula stir the Chenna gently for a minute to cool it down.
• Now, gathering the ends of the muslin cloth, put the Chenna under running water and wash it carefully to remove any flavor of the lemon and let it cool down. Squeeze out the excess water and tie a knot to the cloth, hang it for ½ hour. Now transfer the Chenna into a grinder jar and shut the lid, pulse it for ½ minute to a smooth paste. Now, take a pan and put it on low flame. Add the pulsed Chenna and grated date palm jaggery one after the other into the pan. Mix the ingredients together well and cook them on low flame for 5 minutes or until the jaggery melts completely. Be sure to continue stirring to avoid it sticking to the pan base. Add a tbsp. of milk into the mix and blend well. Cooking for another 5 minutes, see the contents thicken gradually with occasional stirring. Continue cooking till you see the mix transform into a thick mass, releasing sides.
• Now switch the heat off and pour the Sandesh mix to a plate, letting it cool down to room temperature. Taking small portions of it, make small balls of the mix and flatten them slightly with your palm. Using a mold, design them and then serve or store in an airtight container.

Method –

• Powder the ½ cup of sugar in a dry grinder and then keep it aside. Take the whole wheat flour and pour it into the Kadhai, roasting it on low heat, stirring often to even out the roast. Continue till the colour of the flour changes and you get a nutty fragrance. Next, add the ghee into the flour and mix well, now add the cashews and almonds (roasted separately) and continue stirring and roasting for 5-6 minutes. To check if its cooked properly, taste the flour mix. Now, off the stove, add powdered sugar to the mix and blend well, adding raisins and mixing again. Allow the Panjiri to cool then and serve or store in an airtight container.

Method –

• Blend the peanut butter, cream, powdered sugar, cream cheese and vanilla in a blender/hand mixer to a smooth consistency. Chop the Oreos and fold them into the cheesecake mix. Now, pour the mix into the chocolate cookie pie crust and refrigerate for about 3 hours. Ready to serve, garnish the pie with chocolate sauce, some peanut butter and more crushed Oreos to your liking.

• Carrots – have the highest amount of carotene comparatively and are an excellent source of Vitamins B, C, D, E and K. you can have them as is or cook them per your desire.
• Oranges – are the best source of Vitamin C and empower your body to fight against germs, acting as the perfect source of potassium, minerals, folate and fibre, while being low on calories!
• Turnips – are root vegetables, sweet in taste and starchy in texture. They come loaded with fibre, folates, minerals and vitamins.
• Mustard Leaves– are highly nutritious with vital antioxidants, carotenes, vitamins and minerals.
• Fenugreek Leaves– are packed with lots of fiber, phytonutrients, vitamins and minerals and help in lowering blood pressure and blood sugar levels, amid other health benefits.
• Spinach - is considered one of the healthiest veggies in the world with a variety of antioxidants like flavonoids, carotenes, vitamins A, C and K and Omega 3 fatty acids.
• Radish - is either pungent or sweet and has lot of roughage, folic acid, potassium and ascorbic acid to offer. Edible both raw and cooked.