Get ready for Deepavali with these sweet treats

Preparation time: 5 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Makes: 6 cupcakes

1 Cup = 250 ml

FOR THE RABRI:

6 white bread slices (Cut the corners) | 4 tablespoon condensed milk | 5 to 6 strands of Saffron soaked in a tablespoon of hot milk | 5 blanched and peeled almonds (grated) | 5 blanched and peeled pistachios (grated) | 200 ml milk + 1/4 cup extra | 1/4 cup milk powder | 1/4 teaspoon baking powder | 1 1/2 tablespoon ghee/butter (melted)

FOR THE TUKDA :

1/2 cup sugar | 3 bread slices cut into triangles | 2 to 3 drops of orange food colour (optional) | 2-3 grated pistachios and badam | 3-4 strands of saffron (crushed using mortar and pestle) OR Add 2-3 drops of kesar essence| 2 tablespoon of ghee for frying

PRE-PREP: I soaked the saffron strands much earlier. I had also blanched and peeled my dry fruits

Collect all your ingredients

Take a large bowl and roughly tear your bread slices into smaller bits using your hand

Pour 200 ml of milk (one cup) on top of the bread and mix

Now add the condensed milk, (milk powder + baking powder) and sliced/ chopped dry fruits. Pour the saffron milk and mix again

TIP: Since there is no other dry flour in this cake, I mixed the baking powder along with the milk powder and then added it to the bread mixture so that it spreads uniformly

Heat the ghee or butter in a pan and when it is melted, pour it into the batter and mix well. You can adjust the quantity of ghee if you are diet conscious. But the richness of the dessert lies in adding the ghee. The cake batter should not be too thick or too thin Line your cup cake tray with the paper liners and pour equal amounts of batter in each cup. You can top the cup cakes with finely grated pistachios and almonds

In a pre-heated oven, bake the cupcakes at 180 degrees C for 20 minutes or till the time a tooth pick inserted in the middle of the cake comes out clean. I baked in the middle rack. They will look like this. Let them cool in a rack. While the cake is baking, you can make the tukda. First, we need to make sugar syrup. In a pan, add sugar and pour water just enough to cover the sugar. When the sugar melts, add colour and kesar/saffron. Let the sugar boil till you get ‘one string consistency’ Heat ghee in a pan, fry bread slices till they are golden on both sides Lift them from ghee and dip them directly into hot sugar syrup. Let them soak for 5-10 mins. You can sprinkle dry fruits (sliced) on top. Remove from the syrup and insert them into your cupcakes. You can serve this immediately or serve it cold 

Preparation time: 3 hours

Cooking time: 20 mins

Makes: 25-30 medium size vada donuts

1 cup = 250 ml cup

Special vessel: Iron wok/kadai (to get the

best texture, colour and taste)

1 cup husked black

gram/urad dal | 15

strawberries |

2 green cardamom

(freshly powdered

using mortar and

pestle) | 1/4 cup

sugar + 1 tablespoon

(adjust according

to your taste

preference) | pinch

of salt | oil for frying

Wash the urad dal four to five times and soak in water

for 3-4 hours

 Drain water completely and grind along with washed

and chopped strawberries

Tip: I used a mixer to grind the batter. Do not add water

 Beat the batter in a circular motion to air the batter for

at least 5 minutes continuously

NOTE: If you are using a grinder for grinding the batter,

ignore this step

 Add sugar, cardamom, salt and beat again

 Heat oil in a wok and when the oil reaches the right temperature, drop the batter

using a spoon or shape them like medhu

vadai and drop them carefully in oil

 Fry them on all sides uniformly and drain

them in a tissue

Preparation time: 5 mins 

Cooking time: 15 mins

1 cup = 250 ml cup 

Serves: 3-4 

1 red bell pepper (deseeded, roughly chopped;

you can also use yellow

bell pepper)| 1 small

carrot (roughly chopped)

| 3-4 cardamom pods

(powdered) | 1/4 cup

ghee/clarified butter | 1

cup poha/aval/beaten rice

(thin variety) | 2/3 cup sugar

(adjust according to your

preference)

FOR GARNISH :

1 teaspoon ghee/clarified butter | 5-6

cashew nuts | 1 teaspoon chironji (or dry fruits of your choice)

Grind the bell pepper and carrot into a smooth puree using 1/4 cup water Chef tip : Grind it into a smooth paste. Add a few more drops of water if required. This is an important step to get great texture to your halwa

Soak the poha in water for 5 mins and squeeze the excess water and set it aside Heat a pan or kadai with ghee and toast cashews and chironji (or dry fruits you are using) till they are golden brown and transfer it to a plate or small bowl Place the kadai/pan back on low flame, add 1 tbsp ghee and vegetable puree Keep stirring for 5 min or till the time the raw smell evaporates and then add the sugar

Once sugar dissolves completely, add crushed cardamom

Chef tip : Remove green cover of cardamom and powder finely if you want a smooth texture. Also, add more cardamom if you want to mask the strong aroma of bell pepper. Instead of refined sugar, you can also use powdered jaggery or palm sugar Now, add soaked and drained poha Add the remaining ghee and keep mashing and stirring the kesari so that they all come together

Chef tip: The more you mash, the taste of halwa will be greater. Also, add more ghee if required

Once the halwa comes together without sticking in the pan, add the roasted dry fruits, mix and switch off

Swarnam aka red bell pepper halwa is ready