Sweet Potato Kheer

This post was originally published in 2009 and needed some revamping both in terms of content and images. I had posted a microwave version but I am updating with the stove-top method too. 

Kheer / payasam is a popular and quick to cook dessert from Indian cuisine. It is equivalent to the pudding recipe from the western world sans eggs. Rice, vermicelli, sago/tapioca pearls, and split chickpeas versions are the most common and traditional kheers prepared across India. There are though several other delicious versions and kheers are mostly easy to prepare. The basic preparation of a kheer remains the same. A grain / lentil / vegetable / other ingredient is cooked in milk and sweetened with sugar or jaggery. Dairy milk is most commonly used though other milks like coconut milk, almond milk can be easily substituted in the recipe. Whole milk adds richness to a kheer but replacing it with half and half or a splash of condensed milk makes it festive. Cardamom is the most common flavor used in south India while saffron, kewra essence and rose water are other flavoring agents that go in north Indian style kheers. A garnish of ghee toasted dry fruits and nuts finishes the dish.

I love simple kheers like carrot / chayote / dates that sound special and unusual. I sometimes combine half & half to my kheers for the extra richness. These are some of the kheers that I have already posted on my blog. The first time I prepared this sweet potato kheer was for my guests who had hard time guessing the contents of the kheer and were bowled over by it's taste. I had never heard about sweet potato kheer before that and it was an experiment done on a whim. I use the pink fleshed sweet potato that is common in USA to make this kheer. The color of this chilled kheer is just because of the yam and no saffron was added. It can be cooked with the Indian variety sweet potato too but the sugar quantity in the recipe needs adjustment as it is a more sweeter variety. This is so delicious that it can be served to guests or can be included in festive meals. It can also be cooked during vrat / fasting since sweet potato is allowed during the period.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. ghee

1/2 cup peeled & shredded sweet potato 
1.5 cups whole milk or as needed (or substitute with half & half for more richer version.) 

3 - 4 tbsp. sugar or to taste
Seeds ground from 2 cardamom pods / 2 pinches of ground cardamom
1 tbsp. cashews and raisins for garnishing (optional)

(For the original microwave version, I had used a tbsp. of ghee and 1.5 tbsp. sugar.)

Stove-top method:

* Heat ghee in a pan and add cashews and raisins. Toast them until raisins turn plump and cashews turn golden brown. Remove them with a slotted spoon and transfer them to a small bowl.

* Add grated sweet potato to the same ghee and sauté for 5 - 6 minutes, stirring continuously. 

* Next add milk to the pan and cook until sweet potato softens. (It doesn't tale much time.)

* Next add sugar and ground cardamom and cook until the sugar melts. Turn off the stove.

* Garnish with toasted cashews and raisins. 

* I usually serve it chilled but it can be served both warm or chilled.

Microwave version:
* Mix the ghee and the shredded sweet potato in a microwave safe bowl and cook it for a couple of minutes in the microwave. Remove and stir the contents once in between. 

* Add 3/4 cup of milk to the bowl and mix well. Put the bowl back in the microwave and cook until the sweet potato is almost done. Check once in between and if the milk has been absorbed by the sweet potato, add some more. (It may take about 3 - 4 minutes.) 

* Add sugar, remaining milk, and cardamom to the bowl. Mix well and put it back in the microwave and cook for a couple of minutes or until the sweet potato is cooked. Garnish with nuts/raisins if using. Stir well before serving. This kheer can be served warm or cold.
 
Note:
1. For diabetic-friendly version, omit the sugar and add a little sweetener to the bowl just before serving.

2. The time to cook the kheer in a microwave may vary depending upon the strength of the microwave. Use your discretion and cook accordingly.

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Navaratri Naivedyam ~ Milk Rava Kesari

Semolina halwa is a delicious sweet dish prepared across India. It is popular enough to be a festive treat or a part of religious offerings and quick enough to whip up as a treat to satiate one's sweet tooth or to serve as a part of the breakfast meal. In fact, rava kesari is one of the naivedyams offered to Goddess on the sixth day of Dasara / Navratri. 

It is one of the easiest dishes to try if venturing into Indian sweet making. It is called sooji ka halwa / sheera in the north while the south Indian twist to this dish is the addition of orange food color where it is called rava kesari or kesari bhath, kesari referring to the orange color. 

Semolina is toasted in a generous amount of ghee and then cooked in water and sugar usually. My version today is made with milk which makes it richer. For a vegan version, milk can be replaced by water and the raisins and cashews can be toasted in a little oil or can be directly added to the boiling water, without toasting. The orange food color is optional as well. I have made a small portion here but the recipe can be easily doubled or mulitiplied. 

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. ghee (Add more if preferred)
1 tsp. each, raisins and cashews
1/4 cup semolina
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. milk
1/8 tsp. ground cardamom
Few drops of orange food color
1/4 cup sugar (Add 1 tbsp. more if sweeter version preferred.)

Directions:

* Pour milk into a pan and bring it to a boil on low flame, stirring occasionally. Add cardamom and food color if using to the hot milk and stir.

* Meanwhile, heat ghee in a pan and add cashews and raisins. Toast until cashews turn golden brown and raisins are plump. Remove the raisins and cashews with a slotted spoon onto a plate and keep them aside.

* Add semolina to the same ghee pan. Toast on medium flame continuously stirring until it starts to change color slightly and the aroma starts coming, about 3 - 4 minutes. 

*  Lower the heat setting to minimum and add the toasted semolina to the milk pan, continuously stirring the mixture while doing so to avoid any lumps from forming. Cover and cook until semolina is done.

* Next stir in sugar and cook until all the sugar is absorbed by the mixture. Add the toasted cashews and raisins to it and mix well.

* Serve it warm.

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Green Peas Kheer / Matar Ki Kheer

Kheer made with peas may sound unusual and even weird if one has never heard about it. However matar ki kheer aka green peas kheer is a traditional dish that is cooked in parts of north India. I had known about this kheer for years but I too had been skeptical since I wasn't sure whether I would favor green peas in a sweet dish. I put my apprehensions away this time as I had tried a kheer with field beans recently and really liked it. Besides, I had loads of frozen peas. 

The kheer is a perfect one if you are planning to floor your family or guests without slaving in front of the stove. I am really glad that I gave this kheer a try. It is so delicious that it has become one of my favorite kheers now. No one can beat you if you start playing a guessing game with this kheer. My kids could not guess at all what went in and my daughter, who avoids peas kept leaning towards pistachio because of the color and loved it. 

The kheer preparation involves the usual, simple steps. There is no need for any fancy ingredients to prepare this kheer. All you need are milk, sugar and fresh / frozen peas. Peas are ground to a paste and cooked in milk until it slightly thickens. Be sure to prepare a large quantity of this delicious kheer or else be ready to regret it.

Ingredients: (Yield - 2 servings)
1 cup fresh / frozen green peas (I used frozen ones.)
2 tsp. ghee
1.5 cups milk
Sugar to taste
2 pinches of  ground cardamom
Chopped nuts to garnish

Directions:
* Grind the peas finely / slightly coarsely using water if needed. 

* Heat ghee in a pan, preferably a non-stick one and add the ground peas puree. Saute it on low flame until the raw smell of the peas disappear, about 8 to 10 minutes.

* Add milk and cook it, stirring intermittently until it reduces to 3/4th the original quantity or a little thicker. Leave a ladle in the pan to avoid the milk from boiling over. (One can adjust the quantity of milk depending upon the preferred consistency of the kheer.)

* Add sugar and cardamom powder and cook until sugar melts and turn off the stove.

* The kheer can be served warm or chilled. Garnish with chopped nuts before serving.


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Makhana Kheer / Makhane Ki Kheer

Phool makhana or the puffed lotus seeds are commonly used in some of the regions of India and Bihar is one of those states. This makhane ki kheer is commonly prepared during 'Makara Sankranti' in Bihar and obviously Jharkhand. This kheer was supposed to be a part of 'Indian Sweets and Snacks' that I posted during the September mega marathon. I resisted publishing it as I prepared a small portion of it and wasn't happy with the images. However I decided now to post it anyway since it perfectly fits the 'Festival Foods' theme this week.
 
The puffed lotus seeds is one of those ingredients that sound exotic and are healthy but got nothing to offer in the flavor department. They are basically bland on their own with a popcorn like texture. They can be toasted and spiced and eaten like a guilt free savory snack, can be used in curry recipes or to make this delicious kheer aka the Indian pudding. This kheer is simple, easy and quick to prepare. Toasted phool makhana can be finely chopped and added to the kheer if one prefers bite size bits in their kheer. Or 2/3rd portion of the makhana can be ground and added to the kheer to make it thicker. Addition of khoya is another yummy option to add body to the otherwise liquidy kheer. I saved a handful of makhana and powdered the rest to add it to the kheer. I also reduced the milk quantity by 1/3 portion by slowing heating it on low flame.   

Ingredients: (Yield 1.5 cups)
1 cup phool makhana / foxnuts / puffed lotus seeds
2 cups milk
Sugar to taste (I used about 8 Stevia packets.)
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom 
1 tbsp. raisins
1 tbsp. slivered almonds
1 tbsp. pistachios

Directions:
* Heat milk in a pan preferably a non stick one on low flame, stirring occasionally to avoid scorching at the bottom. If planning to reduce the milk and thicken it, boil it longer. 
* Meanwhile, toast makhana on slow flame until they become crunchy. One will be able to crush it with fingers. Save a few and grind the remaining makhana finely.

* If not thickening milk then one can add the ground makhana to milk as soon as it comes to a boil. Also add sugar and the makhana that were not ground. 

* Cook on low flame stirring occasionally until the phool makhana softens about, about 7 to 8 minutes.
* Add cardamom, raisins and nuts and cook for a minute more. Turn off the stove and serve warm or chilled. The kheer slightly thickens after cooling.

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Flax Seeds - Sesame Seeds Laddu

My mother had given me a few laddu recipes to try a while ago. The tempting protein laddus I posted a few months earlier was one of them. These healthy flax seed laddus are one more from the bunch that are simple and easy to prepare. The original recipe was called flax seed laddu as it used equal quantities of flax and sesame seeds. I have increased sesame seeds quantity when I made these laddus. Also the recipe had about 1/4 tsp. of ground cinnamon which I omitted favoring cardamom. 

Sesame seeds play an important role in some of the regions during Sankranthi festival. These laddus make a great choice if one needs to make a dish using sesame seeds. Or if one has some leftover 'ellu-bella' mix, transform it to some nutritious laddus which everyone can enjoy. These quick fix laddus can also make an opt choice for a 'mithai' platter or when one needs to make more sweets for festivals like Diwali and such.  

Ingredients:
1/4 cup flax seeds
3/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup dates (More than 24 pitted dates)
1 /4  tsp. ground cardamom

Directions:
* Toast sesame seeds on medium flame until they start to lightly brown, continuously stirring all the while. Don't let them burn.

 * Toast flax seeds until they start to crackle and fly around. It takes about a minute or less to toast them.

* Let the toasted seeds cool down.

* Finely grind the toasted flax seeds in a blender and transfer it a bowl. (I saved a few seeds without grinding and added to laddus which I don't recommend.) Next finely grind the sesame seeds as well and add it to the bowl. 
* Lightly pulse the dates in a food processor or a blender until they appear coarsely ground. Next add the ground sesame and flax seeds, cardamom and cinnamon if using and run the food processor on pulse mode until the mixture comes together.  

* Transfer the contents to a bowl and shape into laddus. 

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Protein laddu

My parents used to subscribe a variety number of magazines while we were growing up. The subscription also extended to some of the kids' classics like chandamama and balamithra in Telugu versions  which were exclusively for me. Remember this was way before the kids started to glue on to television sets and I was content with my books and the neighborhood friends. Probably in guise, my parents were trying to see if I can pick up reading and writing skills in Telugu which eventually I did though I have never lived In Andhra and besides ended up being a bookworm. Meanwhile, my young and energetic mother would try the recipes from those magazines which caught her attention. Nowadays she sticks mostly to tedious, tried and tested traditional kind of snacks / sweets when it comes to festivals which I don't even dare to try. 

Nowadays she has this habit of noting down making my father note down any interesting and easy recipes that she come across on cooking shows or any magazines. It is done, keeping me in my mind as she knows that I like to try new dishes as long as they are easy and quick ones. This laddu recipe was one among the bunch that came from her a while ago. I tried a couple and this laddu was surely a winner in terms of taste and nutrition though they look rustic. They faintly reminded me of sunnundalu which are dear to me. I don't need to go on singing the virtues of these laddus as the ingredients speak for themselves. My daughter who doesn't like sweets in general had liked these and that is surely a winner recipe to me. As far I go, I am unable to stop myself from popping one into my mouth every time I am near the laddu container. 😋 Try these easy, yummy laddus for this Diwali and I promise that you wouldn't be disappointed.

I tried a small portion of the recipe and still got about 16 standard size laddus. The new peanut packet was misplaced and had only a handful in the bottle which filled up to 3/4th of a 1/4 cup measuring cup. I therefore measured my ingredients based on that but interchanging quantities slightly shouldn't affect the final product. If one is confused with the measurements I have provided, just use one measure each of lentils, peanuts and nuts and double the flours' measurements. Use jaggrey and ghee accordingly.  Also I need to mention that the jaggery I used was a sweeter variety and the laddus were sweeter with the amount of jaggery I used. One may need to adjust the jaggery quantity since the amount of jaggery used in the recipe depends upon the sweetness of the jaggery being used and the preferred sweetness of laddus. 

Ingredients: (Yield - 16 laddus)
3 tbsp. moong lentils (yellow moong dal) 
3 tbsp. black lentils (urad dal with husk)  
3 tbsp. peanuts 
3 tbsp. almonds
3 tbsp. cashews (I replaced half with pistachios.)
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. wheat flour
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. finger millet flour / ragi flour
1 and 1/4 cup powdered jaggery
4 - 5 tbsp. melted ghee
Directions:
* Toast lentils in a pan individually on low flame until moong starts to turn slightly reddish and the black lentils start to change their color as well. Transfer them onto a plate.
* Next toast almonds and cashews individually. Transfer them to the lentils' plate.  
* Next add peanuts and toast on low flame until done. Let them cool and rub between your palms to remove the skin. Or for a quicker version, toast them in a microwave as I did. It takes around 3 to 4 minutes in a microwave to roast this small quantity but giving one or two intermittent breaks is recommended to avoid them from burning. This step can be avoided if using toasted and skinned peanuts.
* Toast flours individually on low flame until they start to change color slightly. I toasted them without adding any ghee but if preferred, it can be done so. 

* Let all the toasted ingredients come to room temperature.
* First the lentils need to be ground since they take longer than the rest of the ingredients. We like to keep our sunnundalu a tiny bit coarser and so I opted to do the same here as well. They can be ground very fine if one chooses to do so. It depends upon one's preference how the texture of these laddus should be. (I did use my blender for this part and continued the next steps in my food processor.)
* Next finely grind peanuts and the other nuts that are being used. Add the flours at the end and just pulse to combine.
* Finally add the ground jaggery and run the blender / food processor until the mixture is combined well.

* Transfer the mixture to a wide plate and run your hand through the mixture and break any lumps if present.

* Add ghee in increments to the mixture and keep working it into the dough. 

* Mix well so that ghee uniformly coats the mixture. Stop adding ghee when a small portion of the mixture can be easily shaped into a ball without breaking. (Initially about 3 tbsp. of ghee can be added and then the rest in increments and as needed. Mostly 1/4 cup should be enough.) 
* Make lemon sized balls out of the mixture and store in an airtight container. 

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