Sweet Potato Halwa

Ingredients:
1. Sweet Potatoes: 500 gms.
2. Butter: 1/2 stick.
3. Sugar: 1 cup.
4. Milk powder: 1/4 cup (Optional).
5. Cashews: for garnish.
6. Cardamom Powder: 1/4 tsp.
7. Cinnamon Powder: 1/4 tsp.
Procedure:
1) Remove the skin from sweet potato and wash thoroughly. Cut into uniform pieces or cubes (yielding about 2 1/4 cups chopped).
2) Place them into a microwave-safe bowl and add 1 teaspoon water. Cover and microwave on high for 5 to 6 minutes. Stir and microwave for another 1 to 2 minutes or until they are fork tender. Remove from microwave and mash them without adding any liquid. Set aside.
3) Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat and add roughly crushed cardamom seeds (if you like) and mashed sweet potatoes and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients except cashews (choice of nuts). Continue to cook, stirring constantly until there is no moisture left in the pan. Stir in the chopped cashews.
4) Remove from the heat and transfer the mixture to a lightly buttered 8-inch round baking pan or thali (Indian stainless steel round dish). Spread the mixture evenly with a lightly buttered back of metal spatula. Let it cool completely and cut into desired shapes.

Nuvvu Chekka

This is a special sweet made for Sankranti.
Ingredients:
1. Sesame seeds: 1 cup
2. Dry coconut: 1 cup
3. Jaggery: 1 cup
4. Green cardamom powder – ¼ tsp
5. Nutmeg powder – ¼ tsp (Optional)
6. Ghee 1tsp.
Method:
1) Roast the sesame seeds until golden brown.
2) Grind the sesame seeds to a coarse powder.
3) Heat the ghee and add jaggery with couple of tbsp of water until you get a thick syrup.
4) Grease a shallow plate to set the cake/chekka in.
5) Mix in the coarsely ground sesame seeds, coconut powder into the syrup. Add cardamom powder and nutmeg powder and mix thoroughly.
6) Spread mixture while hot evenly onto the plate and garnish it with dry coconut. 7) Cut diamond shapes before it cools down completely.
8) Allow it to cool and set and enjoy.

Gulab Jamoon with Milk Powder

Ingredients:
1) Milk Powder : 200 gms.
2) Maida : 50 gms.
3) Baking Powder: 1 pinch.
4) Milk: 50 ml.
5) Sugar: 250 gm.
6) Water for Syrup.
7) Ghee: 2 tsp.
8) Oil to fry.

Procedure:
1. Mix milk powder, maida, ghee , milk and baking soda in a bowl.
2. Add little water and prepare a dough. Keep aside for 5 mins.
3. Make marble size balls.
4. Fry them in the ghee or oil till they become golden brown.
5. Dip them in the sugar syrup.


For Sugar Syrup

Boil 250 gm sugar with 200gm water.
Keep boiling until sugar dissolves and syrup is ready.

To check one syrup: Place one drop of the above syrup into two fingers and when you try to open the fingers then you should see one line of the syrup separating the two fingers.

Tip:

Gulab jamum should be fried on a very slow flame that will make the gulab jamun soft from the inside.

Panasa Thonalu

Ingredients:

Plain flour or maida 4 cups
Salt -a pinch
Ravva-2 tablespoons
Sugar-2 cups
Oil for deep fry
Cardamom powder-a pinch

Procedure:

1. Mix the flour, salt, 1 tsp warm oil and ravva in a bowl and make a tough dough. Keep it aside for 20-30 minutes.
2. Divide the dough into lemon sized balls.
3. Roll the balls into chapathi using the rolling pin.
4. Cut straight lines in the middle of the chapathi's using a knife or biscuit cutter.
5. Roll the chapathi so that all the lines together but dont stick and joint the ends on both sides using oil.
6. Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry them until they turn brown in colour.
7. Boil the sugar with two cups of water in a thick bottomed vessel and make a syrup with one string consistency.
8. Add the cardamom powder and lower the flame.
9. Dip the deep fried panasa thonalu into the syrup and take them out.
10. Let them dry and store them in an air tight container.

Kaddu ka Halwa

Ingredients:

1) Red pumpkin: 2 1/2 cups grated.
2) Milk: 1 cup.
3) Sugar: 1 cup.
4) Dry fruits ( Cashew/ almonds/raisins): as required.
5) Ghee: 6 tsp.
6) Cardamom: 4.

Procedure:
1) Add 1 tsp of ghee to sauce pan and fry the dry fruits individually till golden brown and keep them aside.
2) Add 1 tsp ghee to the sauce pan and add grated pumpkin, cook it till the rawness is gone.
3) Add the milk to the cooked pumpkin and let it cook till pumpkin is tender.
4) Stir continuously while cooking. Add sugar and cook till it looses the moisture.
5) Add the remaining ghee and keep stirring till the ghee oozes out.
6) Powder the Cardamom seeds with a little sugar.
7) Switch off the stove and add Cardamom to the Halwa and mix well.
8) Decorate with the dry fruits.
9) Serve hot or cold. Goes well with Gulab Jamoon or Icecream.