Gulab Jamun Recipe With Khoya - Diwali Sweets Recipes

Diwali celebration would not be fulfilled without Gulab Jamun for Indians. Not just for Diwali, we make this delicious sweet recipe for celebrations like New year, Birthday, anniversary to make it more special. It’s one of the most popular dessert recipes that tastes the best with Vanilla ice cream. Even beginners who are new in making sweets never fail to try jamun at least with store bought gulab jamun mix like MTR, Aachi, Gits during Diwali. 

Long back,I had tried gulab jamun with homemade khova and posted here too. Then due to my laziness, I started making jamun using instant mix every year. But this year for Diwali, I was determined to try gulab jamun with khoya or milk powder. I used store bought khoya here. To make this sweet, I watched many youtube video recipes like Samayal Samayal with Venkatesh Bhat , Vahchef , Sanjeev kapoor & went through many recipes for the ratio of ingredients and tips to make perfect jamun. I came across few recipes with khoya and paneer too.

As its my first attempt with store bought khoya, I chose the gulab jamun recipe with khoya alone and tried it. After so many trial & errors, I made a perfect gulab jamun following Chitra Viswanathan Mam’s recipe with slight changes. I was very happy to see my golden colored, soft and juicy gulab jamun. I made them like mini jamuns in very small size to suit my serving bowls. It did double in size & well soaked too. I have given the recipe for lesser quantity. 

If you are attempting jamun with khoya for the first time, go ahead with this recipe. Once you get it perfect you can double this recipe and make in large quantity. Beginners, do follow the tips I have shared in this post. I am sure you will get the same results like me. Lets see how to make Gulab jamun using store bought khoya !

Gulab jamun recipe with khoya

How to make gulab jamun with store bought khoya

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: 12 nos

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 20 Minutes

Total time: 30 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 200ml Store bought sugarless khoya - 1/2 cup Grated ( I used Milky mist brand) All purpose flour / Maida - 3 levelled tbsp Cooking soda - A pinch (approx. half of 1/8th tsp) Salt - a pinch Water - as needed Cooking oil - to deep fry jamun For sugar syrup Sugar -1 cup Water - 1.5 cups Cardamom powder - 1/8 tsp Saffron threads - few ( Optional) Note : Double the recipe for more quantity

METHOD

Take the khoya from the refrigerate and bring it to room temperature.If the khoya is too moist n soft to handle,crumble it well using your hands. If its dry and slightly hard,grate it using a grater. Measure 1/2 cup of khoya and knead it well for 2-3 minutes using the heel of your palm. Make it smooth and soft without any grains. After kneading add the maida,a small pinch of salt & cooking soda. Mix well to make a crumbly mixture. Add water very little by little and make a smooth,non-sticky dough. If the khoya is too moist, you don’t need to add water. So add water only if needed. Its not necessary that the dough should be completely crack free. No issues if there are mild cracks. Keep the dough covered for 5-10 minutes. In the mean time, make the sugar syrup. Take the sugar & water in a bowl, mix well. Melt the sugar and boil it for 5 minutes in medium flame.Syrup should reach sticky consistency.i.e If you take the syrup in your finger, it should coat well with a glossy look and sticky to touch. No need of half thread or single thread consistency. Add cardamom powder and few saffron threads if using. Switch off the flame and let the syrup become warm. As we have added more water, the syrup won’t become thick. If you wish, you can add 2 tsp of lemon juice to avoid crystallization of sugar syrup. But I din’t add it. Beginners,please do this testing step.Heat a kadai with oil and take a small ball from the dough. Make it round and crack free. Check the temperature of oil by dropping a pinch of dough. If it rise to the top slowly, oil temperature is correct. Stir the oil twice and drop the small ball which we kept for testing. Flame should be low to medium. Check whether the balls are not dissolved in oil and crack free. It should be doubled in size and cook properly. The color of jamun should change slowly. If the flame is high,jamun will become brown quickly but it won’t be cooked inside.So open the jamun and see whether its properly cooked inside. Please do this testing to make a perfect jamun. The balls will dissolve in oil if cooking soda is more.In that case,add little more maida and make the dough by sprinkling few drops of water.If there are cracks in the ball after cooking, sprinkle a tsp of water and mix well to make the dough moist. If the ball comes out properly, make the remaining balls using the dough and proceed cooking. Switch off the flame till you make the remaining balls. Make small crack free balls by rolling the dough between your hands. Grease your hands with ghee if needed. Make sure the balls should be crack free & smooth. This is more important to get crack free,smooth gulab jamun.If there are more cracks in the balls, slightly dip one edge of the ball in milk or water and make the balls smooth. Now heat the oil in medium flame and check the temperature.Stir the oil and drop the balls one by one. Do not mix it for few seconds. Then mix the oil using the ladle without touching the jamun. Stirring the oil helps to cook the jamun evenly with nice color. Make sure the flame is medium low. Color of jamun should change gradually. If the flame is high, it will brown quickly and inner portion won’t cook well. Gulab jamun will almost double in size after cooking. Please watch Vahchef’s gulab jamun video if you wish to see the cooking process in detail. Remove the jamun after it becomes golden brown to a tissue paper. Drain the excess oil and immediately transfer the jamun to the warm sugar syrup. Let it soak in the syrup for 1-2 hours. Enjoy ! It stays good without refrigeration for 2 days if its properly handled. Use a clean spoon every time to take the jamun. Do not use your hands. Refrigerating the jamun may make it slightly harder and chewy.

Note

Gulab jamun will dissolve in oil if you add more cooking soda. If the moisture content is more in khoya,u don’t have to add water for making the dough. The wetness of khoya is enough to make the smooth dough. Gulab jamun will become flat if the moist in khoya is more. In that case you should add little more maida. Adding more maida make the jamun hard.So add the mentioned quantity. Do not make the dough too sticky or watery. In that case, grease your hands with ghee and make crack free ball. Do the oil test and proceed. Cook the jamun slowly and patiently else it won’t cook inside properly. If the sugar syrup is too hot, jamun won’t absorb the syrup. So add the hot jamun to the warm syrup.Allow it to soak for minimum 1 hour.Do not refrigerate the jamun.Use a clean spoon to handle every time. You can also use boiled,cooled milk to make the dough instead of water.

Make yummy,juicy Gulab jamun for this Diwali and have a great celebration !

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Kasi Halwa Recipe - Vella Poosanikai Halwa - Easy Diwali Sweets Recipe

 

Kasi Halwa (Vellai Poosanikai Halwa in Tamil,Ash Gourd Halwa /Winter Melon Halwa in English, Boodida Gummaikaya Halwa in Telugu, Kumbalanga Halwa in Malayalam, Kushmandha halwa, காசி அல்வா /  பூசணிக்காய் அல்வா / Kalyana Poosani Halwa ) is one of the most popular sweet recipes which is served in Brahmin weddings. I had tasted this only once and that too years ago in a marriage. So all I remember is its yellow color ( some make in red color), glossy & ghee dripping texture. 

Recently I watched this halwa preparation in Samayal Samayal with Venkatesh Bhat in Vijay TV. The way he explained fascinated me to prepare Kashi halwa at home during this Diwali. But I slightly tweaked his recipe & method of cooking.I made this halwa for my guest yesterday. It came out very well.According to me Kasi halwa aka Vellai poosanikai halwa is purely a beginners sweet. You don’t need any expertise to make this. 

The beauty of this ash gourd halwa is it requires less ghee and cooking time is also less when compared with Tirunelveli Godhumai halwa & Thiruvarur Ashoka halwa. So anyone can make it easily without fear. But I felt the pre preparatory works like slicing the skin, removing the seeds, chopping the inner part, grating & squeezing the water Huuuuhhh!!, took more time than preparation. 

Once you finish this tiresome job, your halwa will be ready in the next 15 minutes. But all this pain will vanish as soon as you see & taste this ghee dripping halwa. I clicked the pictures by removing the hot halwa directly to banana leaf. So you could find the ghee oozing out of the halwa. Ok,enough of boring stories,lets see how to make this easy, yummy Kasi Halwa recipe in detail ! Bookmark this easy sweet recipe for this Diwali 2015 and enjoy with your Kith and Kin ! 

Kasi Halwa Recipe

Kasi Halwa / Poosanikai Halwa - Easy Diwali Sweets

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweet

Serves: Serves 2-3

Prep time: 20 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 35 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup - 250ml Grated Ash gourd / Vellai poosanikai - 2 cups Sugar - 3/4 to 1 cup Ghee - 2 tbsp (  4 to 5 tbsp for more ghee) Cardamom - 2 nos Edible camphor - a pinch (optional) Cashew nuts – few Saffron threads – few

METHOD

Wash and remove a big piece of ash gourd from the whole vegetable. Remove the middle soft portion along with seeds. Then peel the skin and discard it. Grate the ash gourd and keep in a plate.  Take a muslin cloth or thin cloth and squeeze the grated ash gourd well using your hands. Collect the water in a bowl. We should use in the next step. Measure the squeezed ash gourd and take equal amount of sugar. Heat 1 tbsp of ghee in a kadai and roast the nuts. Take in a plate. Put the squeezed ash gourd and saute it for 3-4 minutes in medium flame. Now add the reserved ash gourd water and cook it in low flame by covering the kadai with a lid. Add 1/2 – 1 cup more water if needed. The vegetable should cook well else you will get raw smell in the halwa. So cook it properly. You can do this process in cooker too. After the veggie is cooked well and all the water is absorbed, add sugar. Mix well and add few saffron threads, a pinch of yellow food color optionally. Mix well. The mixture will become goey. As you mix, it will thicken and start to leave the sides of the pan.When it starts to become thick and leave the sides of kadai, add the remaining 1 tbsp of ghee, edible camphor (optional) and cardamom powder. Stir well and remove in a bowl. Initially the halwa looks goey as shown in the above pictures but it thickens as it cools down. Over cooking make the halwa hard and chewy.  Enjoy eating hot and serve it warm as per your choice. Alternatively, you can add more ghee at regular intervals and stir till halwa absorbs the ghee. Then keep mixing till the ghee is started to release in the sides and halwa thickens. Switch off the flame and remove the halwa. It tastes more rich.

Note

You can add 4-5 tbsp of ghee to the maximum, keep mixing and wait for the halwa to ooze out all the ghee. It will be even more rich. But this method consumes very little ghee. The ghee you find in the pictures is the one I added before removing from the flame. I felt 2 tbsp itself is more for this halwa. You can replace yellow food color with red food color or more saffron threads to bring the natural color. 1:1 is the ratio of grated ash gourd and sugar. For more sweetness, you can use 1:1.25 cups. Do not add more edible camphor. Its smell may become dominant in the sweet.

Enjoy this easy,yummy Kasi halwa for Diwali & other special occasions !

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Easy Atta Ladoo Recipe - Wheat Flour Laddu

Atta laddu/Whole Wheat flour ladoo is one of the easy to make Indian dessert recipes just like Rava laddu , Moong dal ladoo , coconut laddu and Poha ladoo. Whenever I plan for Diwali sweets menu, I usually include few ladoo varieties too. Last year I tried Malai Laddu/Paneer laddu & coconut ladoo and shared here. For Diwali 2015,I wanted to try motichoor & this atta laddu. I will share the recipe for motichoo laddu next week.Atta ladoo/ Wheat flour laddu can be prepared in many ways.Some recipes call for cooking atta in ghee.Some recipe uses jaggery instead of sugar.In North India especially in Gujarat & Rajasthan people make wheat flour ladoo adding jaggery which is popularly known as Churma Laddu. Today I have made this laddu in a very simple way adding powdered sugar. It was very tasty and all the laddus vanished within no time.If you are looking for an easy & healthy laddu recipe,bookmark this ladoo in your try list for this Diwali.I am sure everybody would enjoy this sweet !

Wheat flour ladoo / atta laddu recipe

Wheat flour ladoo / atta laddu recipe - Easy diwali sweets recipe

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweets

Serves: 8-10 nos

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

1 cup = 200 ml Atta / Wheat flour - 1 cup Sugar - 1/2 cup Cardamom - 2 nos Melted ghee - 1/3 cup Salt – a small pinch Cashews & nuts - as needed

METHOD

Dry roast wheat flour in a wide kadai till it changes to light golden brown in color.Stay nearby & do it in low to medium flame. It takes 4-5 minutes.Take care the flour should not be burnt.Remove in a bowl and let it become warm. In the mean time,powder the sugar adding cardamom seeds.You will 1-2 tbsp more sugar than 1/2 cup .But its fine.Add it as such. Add the powdered sugar , melted ghee,roasted chopped nuts ( If using) and a pinch of salt to the wheat flour.Mix well and make a crumbly mixture. Do not add all the ghee. Add it little by little and mix well.Stop adding ghee if you are able to shape the ladoo. Make balls and arrange in a plate.I roasted few dry grapes in ghee and studded over the ladoo. You can stud roasted cashews or dip a small portion of ladoo in ghee & coat with nuts powder. Decorate it as per your wish. Store them in an air tight box and use it for a week. Enjoy !

Note

You should roast the flour well else laddu will have a raw smell. Do not burn the flour.Roast in low to medium flame only. You can add finely chopped nuts to the laddu mixture before shaping them.I din’t add it. The quantity of ghee may vary from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup.

Try this easy,healthy ladoo during this Diwali & enjoy with your family !

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Corn Flour Halwa - Bombay Karachi Halwa Recipe

Corn flour halwa is one of the easiest halwa recipes. I have tried corn flour halwa with milk as suggested by Shalini. But I haven’t tried Mumbai Karachi halwa style. For 2015 Diwali, I thought of sharing some interesting halwa recipes and started with this easy Halwa. Actually I referred Vahchef’s video recipe but I felt the quantity of ghee was more. So I browsed few more recipes & finally got the recipe HERE. I was very happy with the result. 

In this post, I have shared the stove top method. Very soon I will try to share microwave version. Friends, If you are looking for an easy halwa recipe with less ghee, you must try this corn flour halwa for Diwali. Try and share your feedback here. Ok, lets check how to make this easy diwali sweets recipe – Corn flour halwa !

Corn flour halwa recipe

How to make corn flour halwa - Karachi halwa in an easy way with less ghee 

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweets

Serves: 2 cups

Prep time: 5 Minutes

Cook time: 15 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Corn flour - 1/2 cup Sugar - 1.5 cups Water - 1.5 +1 cup Red food color - 2 pinches Cardamom powder - 1/2 tsp Ghee - 3 tbsp Cashews & melon seeds – 1/4 cup

METHOD

Mix 1/2 cup of corn flour, 1.5 cups of water and 2 pinches food color without any lumps. Chop the nuts into small pieces. Keep a plate ready greased with few drops of ghee. Mix 1.5 cups of sugar with 1 cup of water. Heat it and melt the sugar. Boil well. No need to check any consistency. When the sugar syrup starts to roll boil,add the diluted corn flour mixture. Keep the flame low and mix it well. Halwa with start to thicken here & there. Keep stirring to avoid lumps. As soon as it starts to thicken & changes dark in color, add 1/2 tbsp of ghee at regular intervals, say 2-3 minutes. Halwa will absorb the ghee and becomes thick. After adding 2 tbsp of ghee, Halwa will become transparent, glossy & thick. When it starts to leave the sides of kadai, add the finely chopped nuts, cardamom powder. ( Cook this halwa only in low flame else corn flour may not cook well and leaves a raw smell) Mix well till all the nuts and cardamom powder incorporates well with the halwa. Add 1 tbsp of ghee and mix well. At one stage, halwa will start to leave traces of ghee in the sides of kadai. No problem even if the halwa is sticky. Switch off the flame immediately and transfer it to a greased plate. Level the surface with a greased ladle. When the halwa turns warm, it will become non sticky. Over cooking makes the halwa chewy. So take care. Undercooking makes the halwa smells raw and sticks to the tongue. If you want to serve hot halwa, scoop it in a bowl. If not, let the halwa cool down for 2 hours. Then cut into pieces with a sharp knife.  DO NOT refrigerate this halwa because refrigeration turns it harder. So use it within a day. Enjoy !

Note

You can use custard powder instead of corn flour. Do the entire process in low to medium low flame else halwa may have raw corn flour smell. Please do not reduce the quantity of sugar, water or ghee. It will change the texture of halwa. It will become sticky. The ratio of corn flour, sugar & water is 1:3:5 DO NOT refrigerate this halwa because refrigeration turns it harder. So use it within a day.

 

Enjoy this yummy, colorful corn flour halwa for Diwali !

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Dates Nuts Roll Recipe/Khajoor Katri-Easy Diwali Sweets Recipe

Dates and nuts roll is a very healthy, easy to make, no sugar, diabetic friendly, Indian sweet recipe.It is popularly known as Khajoor katri (In Hindi) / Khajur roll in North India.I have seen this sweet in all the famous sweet shops here in Bangalore.Whenever I see this sweet,I thought it would be difficult to prepare.But when I come across this video in youtube I was overjoyed to find the ease of making this sweet.I tried it immediately and its outcome was awesome and perfect !! I am not a big fan of dates but still I liked the taste of this dates roll may be because of the crunchy nuts coming in each and every bite .I have used poppy seeds for coating this roll.Recently I heard from a reader that poppy seeds are banned in some foreign countries.So feel free to use desiccated coconut instead of khus khus.It tastes good.You can also shape this as dates & nuts balls/Ladoo instead of rolls.I am very happy to add this recipe in my easy Diwali sweets recipes collection.Friends,Bookmark this easy sweet recipe for Diwali.It’s a no fail recipe which takes just 10 minutes preparation time. Lets check out how to make this yummy,easy Indian sweet – Dates Roll !!
Please view the full video recipe to get a good understanding !

Dates Roll - Full Video Recipe

Dates Roll Recipe

How to make easy dates & nuts roll

Cuisine: Indian

Category: Sweets

Serves: 12 nos

Prep time: 10 Minutes

Cook time: 10 Minutes

Total time: 20 Minutes

INGREDIENTS

Seedless Dates - 200 gms ( I used Lion Desseded dates) Chopped Nuts(Cashews,Melon seeds,Pista,badam) - 1/3 cup ( add more or less as u wish) Ghee - 1 tbsp Poppy seeds/Khus khus - 2tbsp (to coat,optional)

METHOD

Chop the nuts finely and chop the dates roughly.Grind the dates into coarse paste.I used small sized mixie jar and ground in batches.Remove them in a plate. heat a kadai and dry roast the poppy seeds for a minute.Collect in a plate.This is to coat the rolls.Please skip this step of u don’t have poppy seeds in hand. Use desiccated coconut or do not coat it. Heat 1 tsp of ghee and roast the nuts for a minute. Remove in a plate. In the same kadai,heat 1 tbsp of ghee and add the ground dates.Mix well until it becomes a whole mass.Initially it would be difficult to mix.,But when the mixture gets heated,dates will become soft and pulpy.It takes 3-4 minutes in medium high flame.Time may vary based on the dates. Now add the roasted nuts & mix till everything incorporates well. It takes 2 minutes.When it becomes a whole mass and non-sticky,remove it and keep in a plate.When it turns slightly warm,knead it well and make a log shape as shown in the picture. Coat it in the roasted poppy seeds and roll in a thermal foil or plastic sheet.Refrigerate for an hour.Remove and keep it outside for 5 minutes.Use a sharp knife and cut into roundels.Serve them once it comes to room temperature.It tastes hard and chewy when it is cold.So serve them after 30 minutes.This roll stays good for 3-4 days.No need to refrigerate. Enjoy this healthy sweet with your family !

Note

Coating the rolls in coconut or poppy seeds is optional. Add more nuts if you wish.I used cashews,melon seeds,pista and badam.You can skip melon seeds if u don’t have.

Make this healthy,easy,yummy sweet for this Diwali and have a great Celebration !

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