Mithai a.k.a Sweets in Hindi or Urdu is one of my favourite thing to eat anytime,anywhere .I know, if you have read many of my previous posts with sweet recipes,you might have already heard that zillion times..earful huh ?
Well, the secret to my rolly-polly weight or nicely put ,my voluptuous body .Holly Molly ! :D...Rhymes and reasons...
I think I can beat anyone.....I mean in any sweet eating competition with ease.Shaala...Control hi nahi hota ...And hence my closet is full of dresses of different sizes except Small.I do workout at times.But being a foodie who hates to diet is really challenging.Struggle is real !
Thankfully I do have a few dresses that can camouflage and adjust/manipulate my body/figure like a shapewear and look bearable/presentable...One of the strange reason I give a special appearance in my cooking videos is to check my weight gain or loss...Holy cow,just to make sure I scare the right people for the right reason !:D
You see at present my blog and vlog/YouTube channel are my passions to work for. And to be frank,I am not getting my adsense/google money at all .My hard-earned money disappears/is stucked exactly like my subcribers count since 2020 and likes/feedbacks/share even though viewed worldwide well.I do get people's/strangers positive/funny reactions wherever I go by Divine's grace .If my intuition is right may be my money was used to pay off meet-ups teams .👍😏
May Divine bless me more to work hard towards all my goals successfully ! I know enemies/haters are a part and parcel of the journey.......Rest my Divine family will take care of...Tum rakshak kahu ko darna...
I recall my school classmate/my dear friend Ritvik's/we used to call him Kitpit's advice in my autograph book : Shukriya dost !
"Ruk jana nahi tu kahin haar ke
kaanton pe chalake milenge saaye bahaar ke,o rahi o rahi "
Anyways,as always I am minding my own business and working hard for the right reason inspite of a few kinda imposed unnecessary distractions which needs to be sometimes addressed to stop any violent escalations (well,trying to do my bit ,hoping to make difference for the best, even if it is small)
Well,for now,I will try my best to control my yearnings for sweets .Hoping for the best !Bada mushkil baba bada mushkil...ye dil hain ki maanta nahi...:D ...The filmi keeda/germ in me :D
Having said that,Indian festivals and any celebrations are incomplete without any sweets or desserts.Since last few years,I was not really celebrating any festivals per se.But this year my doter compelled me to celebrate Diwali and the only reason I like to celebrate festivals here is to make my doter value the Indian traditions and to rekindle the bygone days of celebrations in India.
Like I mentioned in my previous post,I prepared Double ka meetha and Shahi tukda pre-diwali to get into that festive mood.
As in India,you can feel the festivity in the air months before the festival.But alas,here,you have to create that festive mood somehow.So,during and post-Diwali (different versions) ,I made something very special as a token of recap of some unforgettable incidents/memories/lessons in the form of very popular Indian sweets called Balushahi/Badushah,Milk Cake and Pinni Ladoo .
In short how my Diwali especially was happy and yummy -> B-a-l-u-sha-H-I,M-il-K cake,P-in-ni :D...kitni tej hu na mein ,my intuition is sometimes smart ,sharp and magical....Tareef karoon kya uski jisney mujhey banaya ;D :P
I am just like my divine mother ,halwa ,puri,mithai makes me very happy .I think I may complete 56/51 Bhogs of Jagannath swamy faster than my Divine ...ohh kkk..when I don't compete with anyone,how can I compete with my Divine/The Supreme ...Bolo ShriKrishna Bhagwaan ki jai ho !
Are you still awake or lecturing me bass karr kahi diabetes na hoajaye ...Isliye jann ke hith keliye ,bheja fry ko mein karthi hu break,aur recipe karthei hu mein fek..I mean Recipes bataoon ? Kya karoon rhyming ki mein diwani hu..
Toh nek kaam mein deri kaisi,I mean,let me share with you all how I made my favourite sweets - Homemade Balushahi recipe,Milk cake homemade style and easy Pinni recipe..
Balushahi/Badusha
Balushahi/Badusha/Makhan Bada is a very famous Indian sweet that "looks" like Medu/Lentil vada/fritters or a Doughnut though they all taste different.Balushahi is a North Indian sweets that is flaky from outside and soft from inside covered with sugar syrup making it juicy while the twin version called badusha is from South India that is made in a similar way but less sweeter .
Balushahi's origin traces back to the royal culinary and even it is believed/read online(lost the link) that after defeating the demon king/hellraiser Narkasura (funny..Narak means hell and asura means devil/demon/monster),Lord Krishna celebrated the victory by eating delicacies like Balushahi and more.
Did you know that ,Naraksura's wish before death to Lord Krishna was that his death anniversary should be celebrated by the people of Earth (as he was the son of Earth/BhuDevi ) and hence,that day is celebrated as "Diwali".It is celebrated as "Naraka chaturdashi"/"Choti Diwali" as a special pre-diwali celebration in Goa exclusively.
Coincidentally, Diwali also represents the celebration of the arrival of Lord Ram and family after 14 years of exile from the forrest to Ayodhya/The kingdom of Lord Rama.
Similarly ,Diwali also marks the annual return and remembrance/homecoming of King Mahabali. When the Vamana,the dwarf avatar of Lord Vishnu defeated King Mahabali ,MahaBali requested Lord Vishnu to grant his death request for the same.
Mere bhagwan ke lila aprampaar hai :D
Balushahi/Badushah recipe
Ingredients
All Purpose Flour/Maida 1 cup
Clarified butter/Ghee 1/2 cup
Baking powder 1 Tsp
Water (I used a mix of water and milk to make it more softer but I realized it doesn't make a huge difference though)
Salt a bit (optional)
For Sugar Syrup :
Sugar 2 Cups
Water 2 cups
Cardamom powder,a bit
Oil/Ghee for deep frying
How to make Balushahi/Badushah at home
1.Add all purpose flour,ghee,baking powder and bit of salt in a wide pan and mix well.(Some people say adding little curd will make it more tastier)
2.Add water little by little and knead/mix until it becomes a dough.Dough doesn't have to be stiff,it can be little sticky but knead-well.Do not overdo it or it will become dense and won't give the right texture.
3.Keep it aside for a few minutes so that the baking powder activates and makes the dough more fluffy.
4.Meanwhile heat oil/Ghee is a deep/wide pan for frying.(You will see the kanjoos/miser in me using oil with just 1 Tbsp of ghee ,because it will consume the entire bottle I buy usually ,that's why :D)
5.Knead the dough again to release any air.DONOT OVERDO IT.
6.Then take some dough ,roll on your palm and make a small ball.It doesn't have to be neat and perfect.So,it will create a texture in the ball which will give the apt shape of a Balushahi .
7.Put a dent in the center using your thumb finger or any finger you are comfortable with.Repeat with all dough and keep them all aside.
8.Meanwhile prepare the sugar syrup by adding water,sugar and the cardamom powder into a non-stick pan "preferably" so that it doesn't stick to the bottom and bring it to full boil.
9.Then reduce the flame and let it reduce to a sticky consistency.
10.Side by side,make Balushahis- Add a pinch of dough into the oil and if it springs to the top,the oil is ready for frying or wait until it does to fry all dough balls properly.
11.When the oil is ready,put each dough balls one by one without over-crowding.
12.Flip the dough balls and fry them till golden brown all over on lower flame.It may be time taking but do not hurry up to fry them fast or it will spoil the texture of the Balushahi.It will look crunchy/slightly flaky from outside but from inside it will be little soft.
13.Once lightly golden brown,transfer all the Balushahis one by one onto another wide bowl preferably.
14.When the sugar syrup has reached a sticky consistency ,"almost" to the one thread consistency.Turn the cooking gas off and let it cool down a bit.If the sugar syrup is not sticky and is thin ,will make Balushahis soggy and if the sugar syrup is like thread consistency,then it may cover the Balushahi from outside only but it may or may not enter into the Balushahi making it aptly juicy and with the genuine taste.
15.When the sugar syrup is still hot/very warm,pour the homemade sugar syrup all over the Balushahis in such a way that Balushahis should be completely dunked/flip couple of times to make sure all Balushahis are covered with sugar syrup.The hot/very warm sugar syrup will make sure that the sugar syrup properly penetrates into each Balushahi well to make it perfectly juicy and tasteful.Keep it aside for couple of hours/overnight for this process.
16.Test a Balushahi if it is juicy and syrupy from inside or keep it longer (warm the sugar syrup if it is cold for apt penetration).
17.Then decorate with pista pieces and serve it and enjoy.
If you have a sweet tooth ,then you won't stop at one ,oh so yummy,but if you have diabetes ,then you can only have a bit of it as it is loaded with sugar syrup ,suit yourself !
I made and ate different versions of Balushahis and I know look like one .So,I hoped onto the other sweet preparation ,which is one of my all time favourite sweet - The milk Cake Indian style.
Milk Cake Indian sweet
Milk cake is a Rajasthani/Alwar special sweet fudge made with milk,sugar and a curdling agent.Milk cake has a grainy texture which makes it melt in the mouth .I love to eat this sweet a lot.
Similarly,there is a classical Mexican dessert,a sponge cake called Tres Leches which is popularly known as Milk cake too.
Milk Cake Recipe
Ingredients
Whole Milk 6 Cups
Condensed milk 1/2 cup
Vinegar 1-2 Tsps
Ghee/Clarified butter 2 Tbsps
Caramelize sugar
Sugar 1/2 cup
Water 1/2 - 1 cup
How to make homemade Milk Cake recipe
1.Boil milk in a non-stick deep pan preferably ,it will prevent the milk from scorching.
2.Then stir well and reduce the flame .
3.Keep on stirring to avoid the milk getting scorched at the bottom and let the milk reduce to the half quantity.This is time-consuming and will test your patience especially of your eyes and hands.
4.Add the condensed milk and mix well.
5.Keep on stirring or milk mixture will burn at the bottom and spoil the taste.Let it reduce to one-third quantity.
6.Add the vinegar and stir well .Keep on stirring and the milk mixture will start to curdle little by little .Keep on stirring as we don't want any big chunks of milk solids but teeny-weeny milk solids.It is time taking.
7.Continue stirring until the water gets soaked up or evaporates leaving only milk solids.
8.Add ghee and mix well.
9.Once all milk disappears and only milk solids remains,turn off the cooking gas.
10.Meanwhile,take a pan and caramelize sugar by adding sugar in the pan and let it melt on lower flame .If it liquidifies properly ,sugar is aptly carmelized or just add little water till it is in a flowing/ moving thick consistency.
11.Now take a box ,put a wax paper (it will be easy to remove to cut them properly later)and layer with some milk solids ,followed by caramelized sugar and finally the other layer of milk solids.Press it down. Cover it with a lid and let it set overnight or couple of hours.
12.Then remove the wax paper with sweets from the box and chop the sweets into rectangular shape.
13.That's it Milk cake Indian style is ready to eat.
NOTE:
As I was learning how to get the right texture of making milk cake,I realized at shops,they usually use glucose syurp to get that caramelized texture in between the milk cake sweets.
At home,you "may" get it if instead of putting condensed milk just add sugar to taste ,let it reduce to milk solids after curdling and when set the middle portion may be more brownish than the rest of the sweets.Sometimes it just browns the entire sweets instead.
Hence I followed the method I mentioned above/my way to make sure the middle portion of my milk cake sweet is indeed brown in color for sure to give that authentic texture and taste of store-bought Milk cakes.
Usually people use lemon juice to curdle the milk to make milk cake but I used vinegar which doesn't have any sour after taste like lemon juice .At store they use citric acid/alum+liquid glucose instead.
Bottom-line - "Milk cake is simply finger-licking !!
And finally I made winter special,Pinni Ladu/ladoo/Laddu
Pinni
Pinni ladu is a Punjabi Atta Ladoo ,one of the winter famous sweet ball(Laddu/Ladoo) from Punjab,the North-West region of India which is wholesome and nutritious made with whole wheat flour,sugar and mix of crushed nuts and ghee/clarified butter.I prefer sweets made with whole wheat flour than the all-purpose flour/Maida,giving me the excuse to eat the sweet guilt-free that whole wheat flour is healthy comparatively.
Pinni Recipe
Ingredients
Whole Wheat Flour 1 cup
Clarified Butter/Ghee 1 cup
Cardamom powder 1 Tsp
Sugar to taste - 1 cup approx
Mixed nuts,coarsely powdered -1/4th cup
Nuts to decorate preferably almonds
How to make Pinni Ladoo at home
1.Heat ghee in a pan and add whole wheat flour and saute it .
2.Add cardamom powder,sugar taste and mixed nuts coarse powder and mix well.
3.Saute it until the mixture thickens up , changes color to slightly brown and gathers to the center.
4.Turn off the cooking gas and allow it to cool off a bit but still warm enough to shape them into ladoo/sweet balls.
5.Once the mixture is comfortable enough to touch,shape them into small golf shaped balls/ladoo/laddu.
6.Decorate the ladoos with nuts.
7.That's it Pinni Ladoo are ready to serve/eat.
BottomLine- All I can say is Pinni is certainly maa Varahi's favourite bhog/Prasadam.
Humble request:Donot dare to laugh/joke at Maa Varahi's face PLEASE .Lord Varah and Maa Varahi 's boar/wild Pig face avatar was for the protection/saving the planet Earth.
.png "Varahi-Avatar") |
| Glory to the Divine! |
👪Dheere dheera pyaar ko badana hai,Hadd se guzarr jana hai,Ek doojey ko aazmaana hai,Hadd se guzarr jaana hai ......
👪Take care wherever you are, wherever you go,👪
