PUMPKIN HALWA

PUMPKIN HALWA

PUMPKIN PUMPKIN ORANGE AND FAT

...................................

DONT U KNOW ITS HALOWEEN

SCARY FACES WILL BE SEEN

............................
GHOST COME ONE BY ONE BY ONE OOOOO

...................................................

TRICK OR TREAT, TRICK OR TREAT

GIMME SOMETHING GOOD TO EAT

Thats what my son's been singing every now and then from the last one month.

There was haloween party at my son's playschool and all families participating in it were given the task of carving a jack o lantern. The whole concept of haloween is new to me except that i had seen it in some english movies during my teens.I remember first time i came to know about it from my favorite movie Meet me in St.Louis.God knows how many times i have seen it back then.

I came home with a full 7 kilo Jack(pumpkin) to be made into Jack-o-lantern.My son was all excited about the whole carving and scooping.We had great time at the party too.And the best part was he won a prize for his costume.

And when it ended we were told to carry it back home.I had no idea what to do with it.I cut it and shared it with some of my friends.Then i began to make a series of dishes with it.Indira's blog MAHANANDI had the recipe for pumpkin halwa and it was a hit.We loved it.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin-grated-3 cups

Ghee or clarifies butter-2 tbsp

Almonds-soaked in warm water for 2 hours,peeled and powdered-1/2cup

sugar-1 1/2

whole milk-3 cups

cardamom powder-of 5 cardamom

cinnamon powder-1/4 tsp

saffron-a pinch

cashewnuts-of ur wish

Method

Grate the pumpkin.squeeze all the water and stuff it in a measuring cup.

The sugar quantity is 3/4th of it.A bit lesser than that was perfect for our sweet level.

Add sugar to the milk.And heat on medium flame,stirring slowly.

till it is reduced to half its quantity.Add kesar to it.

It was more of condensed milk than khoa and as i was a bit in hurry at that point the khoa was not much solidified,yet tasty.

Take a fry pan .Add ghee to it.fry the cashewnut pieces in it and remove.

In the same ghee Fry the grated pumpkin along with the water.let it cook in its water.when it loses all the water add the khoa stir it nicely.add fried cashenuts.

add cardamom,cinnamon powder.

remove it in a serving bowl.

garnish with your choice of nuts and raisins.

Its ready to be served.

DIWALI SPECIAL

Hope all my readers who celebrate diwali had a great diwali .And i wish them a very happy new year ahead.Diwali sweets and munchies are special.So along with all rangoli and sparklers i made some yummy chakkuli and phenori.The chakkuli version here is the easiest one i got from my mom,and i like it very much.I had bought the chakkuli press this time during my india trip.
here's the recipe:



CHAKKULI

Mungdal (dehusked split green gram)-1 cups

All purpose flour(Maida)-4 cups (sieved)

Jeera-1/2 tsp

Hing-1/4 tsp

chilli powder-1/2 tsp

Butter-1 tsp

Method

Wash the chakkuli press clean and wipe it dry.

Wash and clean Mungdal ,add two cups pf water to it and cook it till done in a pressure cooker.

Mash it nicely or transfer it into a food processor to get a smooth paste.

Take a washed and dry white cotton towel (or any clean cloth),

Heap the maida(flour) in the middle, gather the ends and tie it into a pouch so that tjhe flour doesnt spill.

Place it in a dry container and steam it in a pressure cooker without wieght fro 15 minutes

Remove and place it on a wooden board and crush it nice inside th epouch without untying.

Add jeera ,hing ,chilli powder ,salt to the mungdal paste.add the powdered maida.

knead into a dough.The dough should be soft as roti dough.

Make one small ball out of the dough and fill it in the chakkuli press.

Place a paper on the a flat wooden board or chopping board ,make chakkuli's on it.

Heat oil ,Remove the chakkuli from the paper gently using ur palms and fry them in batches till done.

Cool and store them in an airtight container.

Will post the phenori recipe soon ..