HOT N' SWEET BOWL

Kalkandu Pongal

Kalkandu Pongal is a sweet and delicious South Indian dish made with rice and rock sugar (kalkandu). Here's a simple recipe for making Kalkandu Pongal.

Ingredients:

1 cup raw rice

150 grams kalkandu (rock sugar)

50 grams white sugar

2 cups milk

2 cups water

1 tablespoon ghee

10 cashews

A few strands of saffron

A pinch of edible camphor (optional)

1/2 teaspoon cardamom powder

Procedure :

1. Wash and soak 1/2 cup of rice, setting them aside for 30 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, soak some saffron in warm milk.

3. In a blender, create a fine powder by blending together 150g rock sugar (kalkandu) and 50g white sugar.

4. In a heavy-bottomed pan, bring 2 cups of water and 2 cups of milk to a boil.

5. Add the soaked rice to the boiling milk mixture and cook on medium heat. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking.

6. If the rice becomes thick, add some hot water and stir.

7. Cook the rice until soft and mushy, approximately 15-20 minutes.

8. Add the powdered kalkandu mixture and mix well.

9. The pongal may become watery again; allow it to simmer until it thickens.

10. In another small pan, heat ghee and roast cashews and cardamom powder. Add this to the pongal along with a pinch of salt and mix well.

11. Simmer for a few more minutes until the pongal reaches the desired consistency.

12. Remove it from the heat.

13. Your Kalkandu Pongal is ready to be served. Enjoy it warm as a delightful and sweet treat!

Pori Urundai for Karthigai Deepam

Pori Urundai is a traditional south Indian sweet made with puffed rice/Murmurra and jaggery for Karthigai Deepam. Kids love crunching on them for evening snack. They are very light and crunchy

Ingredients :

Pori / Murmurra / Puffed rice - 4 cups
Jaggary - 1 cup (3/4 cup works fine as well)
Cardamom Powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Dry ginger powder - 1/4 teaspoon
Lemon juice - 1/2 teaspoon
Ghee - 1 teaspoon

Procedure :

1. Boil jaggary with 1/2 cup of water until melted

2. Once jaggary is melted strain the mixture to a large pan and start boiling

3. Jaggary syrup must boil to become hard ball consistency. Check this by dropping some jaggary syrup in cold water and you must be able to form a ball and when the ball is dropped on a stainless steel plate, you should hear a dang sound.

4. Now turn off the stove and add cardamon powder, lemon juice and dry ginger powder and mix well

5. Now add Pori and mix well and make sure all the pori/puffed rice are coated with jaggary syrup

6. Make small laddus out the mixture when its still warm.

Note: use food grade gloves while making laddus easily

Step by Step Video :

Belgian Waffle with Strawberry Syrup

Belgian Waffles are light and crispy waffle when compared to regular ones. These waffles are made lighter by adding yeast. Added yeast ferments the batter overnight and makes the waffles crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

My strawberry sauce recipe is very versatile one. This can be used on literally anything and everything. I make the same recipe replacing any of the berry or sometimes mixed berry.

Ingredients :

Ap Flour - 2 1/2 cup

Sugar - 1/4 cup

Salt - 1tsp

Rapid rise instant yeast - 1 packet

Milk - 2 cups

Butter - 1 stick / 1/2 cup

Baking soda - 1/2 tsp

Eggs - 2

Strawberry Syrup :

Fresh or frozen strawberries - 1 cup

Sugar - 1/2 cup

Water - 2 cup

Corn starch - 1 tsp

1. In a large bowl mix flour, sugar, salt and yeast.
2. Melt the butter completely ( do not boil) .
3. Now add melted butter and milk and mix all together
4. Cover and ferment overnight or 5 hrs or more( the batter must double in size ).
5. Now add eggs and baking soda and mix well until all combined well.
6. Heat the waffles iron and pour the batter and cook till golden brown.

Syrup:
1. Cook strawberries water and sugar until strawberries are soft.
2. Cool and strain the mixture, squeeze the strawberries to get the pulp out completely.
3. Bring the strained mixture to boil and add cornflour mixed in water and cook well.
4. Once the mixture thickens and becomes syrupy turn off and cool the syrup before serving

Step by Step Video :

Rose Panna Cotta | Creamy Gulabi Pudding | Valentine’s Day dessert

Panna Cotta is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. The cream may be aromatized with coffee, vanilla, or other flavorings.

This is Indian fusion panna cotta, flavored with rose. Also used agar agar as replacement of gelatin.

Ingredients :

Whole milk - 1 cup
Heavy cream - 1/2 cup
Sugar - 2 tsps
Rose syrup - 4 tsps
Agar Agar - 1/2 tsp

Procedure :

1. In a sauce pan heat 1 cup milk and 1/2 cup heavy cream
2. Add 1/2 tsp agar agar and mix well
3. Boil this mixture for 2 min until the mixture coats the back of the spoon
4. Add 2 tsps sugar and 4 tsps rose syrup and mix well
5. Remove from stove and strain the mixture
6. Pour it into desired mold and refrigerate for 30mins to 1 hr
7. Remove from refrigerator and unmold and serve cold

Notes / Tips :

Agar Agar quantity must be adjusted as needed. For wiggly panna cotta add 1/2 tsp for firm panna cotta add 1tsp

Step by Step Video :

Akkaravadisal | Sweet Milk Pongal

This is a special type of pongal which is fully cooked in milk. As the pongal is cooked only on milk it has a creamy texture. This is very rich in taste. In addition this pongal is flavored with unique flavors like edible camphor, saffron, cardamom and nutmeg.

This is a very famous pongal made in srirangam temple as naivedyam. This pongal is also called as iyengar pongal as they are majorly cooked in iyengar homes during auspicious days.