Cabbage Kheer

 Kheer is nothing but a milk based sweet pudding dish with either rice or vermicelli traditionally. It is not as thick as pudding but thin in consistency. But as we have come to know to cook with more varieties of grains, the kheer has also evolved. Below are a couple of Kheer recipes.

Sabudaana seviyah kheer

Quinoa Kheer

The Kheer is made today is mainly made with Cabbage a little bit of vermicelli. Because there was vermicelli...the picky eaters in my family had no clue they were eating cabbage >:)

Cabbage Kheer (Cabbage cooked in sweet milk)

Cabbage Vermicelli kheer

Ingredients:

1. 3 cups thinly sliced cabbage
2. 1 cup fine vermicelli (optional)
3. 1 tablespoon each of cashews, raisins, almonds
4. 1 teaspoon poppy seeds
5. 3 cups milk
6. 2/3-1 cup milk
7. 2 teaspoon ghee/clarified butter
8. 1 teaspoon rose essence or 2 cardamom crushed

Heat the ghee in a heavy bottomed pan add fry all the dry fruits, drain and set aside.

In the same pan add the cabbage and fry for 5 minutes. Add the milk and cook for 15 -20 minutes until the cabbage becomes tender. Add the sugar and cook further for 10 minutes. Add the rose water or cardamom and add the fine vermicelli if using. Give it a stir. Sprinkle with the dry fruits and poppy seeds and enjoy hot kheer on a cold winter day

Hot cocoa mix brownies

 This is the time of the year when you want brownies...let me correct myself any time of the year when you want brownies and you are out of the brownie box mix or cocoa powder and you have the hot cocoa mix packets on hand...you have pretty much all the ingredients you need to make brownies. And they were super delicious.

Hot cocoa mix brownies (Brownies made with Hot Cocoa Mix packets)

Hot Cocoa mix brownie

Ingredients:

1. 5 packets hot cocoa mix (either plain or with mini marshmallows)
2. 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
3. 1 teaspoon baking powder
4. 3/4 cup melted butter
5. 1 cup granulated sugar
6. 2 eggs
7. 1 teaspoon vanilla essence

Pre heat the oven to 350 degrees

Melt butter and add the sugar and mix until the sugar dissolves. Add the eggs and vanilla essence and mix well. Shift the flour with the baking powder and add to the butter and egg mixture . Add the cocoa mix and stir to combine.

Prepare a 8x8 baking dish and add the batter to the pan and bake for 35-37 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

Let stand atleast 5 minutes before cutting it and enjoying the delicious chocolaty brownies

Banana split Cake

This is one of the most awesome dessert recipes I have ever made. Its so easy to make but tastes like heaven. My son says he wants this for this birthday instead a a cake...and that is a huge compliment :)

The original recipe is here 

Banana Split Cake (No bake layered cake with cream, pineapple and banana)

Banana and pineapple layered cake

Ingredients:

1. 9 graham crackers, crushed (about 1-1/2 cups)
2.  1 cup sugar, divided
3.  1/3 cup butter, melted
4.  2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened
5.  1 can (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, drained
6.  3-4 bananas peeled and sliced
7.  1 5.1 oz JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding
8.  2 cups cold milk
9.  2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided

Combine graham crumbs, 1/4 cup sugar and butter; press onto bottom of 13x9-inch pan. Freeze 10 min.

Beat cream cheese and remaining sugar with mixer until blended. Spread carefully over crust; top with pineapple. Arrange the sliced bananas over pineapple.

Beat pudding mixes and milk with whisk 2 min. Stir in 1 cup COOL WHIP; spread over banana layer in pan. Top with remaining COOL WHIP. Refrigerate 5 hours.

Serve with ,pre sliced bananas or cherries if desired

Qawami Seviyah

 Seviyah are the thin wheat noodles that are used in India and Pakistan predominantly during the month of Ramadan for sweets and breakfasts in general.

When we think of Seviyah...the main recipe which comes to mind is kheer or sheer khurma. This sweet I found today is so much better...Kheer being not one of my favorites

Qawami Seviyah (Thin Wheat noodles in milk and sugar syrup)

Qawami Seviyah

Ingredients:

1. 250 grams thin Vermicelli (Seviyan)
2. 1/4 Cup Clarified Butter (Ghee)
3. 1 Cups Milk
4. 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
5.  1 teaspoon rose water
6. 2 tablespoons each of  slivered almonds, slivered pistachios, desiccated coconut and raisins

Sugar Syrup

1. 1  Cup Water
2. 1 Cups Sugar

In a pan add all the ingredients of sugar syrup and cook until the sugar dissolves. Let simmer for 3-4 minutes and turn off the heat.

In an another heavy bottom pan add clarified butter (ghee) and add the dried fruit and toast it. Drain and set aside. In the same pan add vermicelli  and roast it until it turns brown in color. keep stirring so that they don’t burn.
Now add milk to the pan along with lemon juice, turn the flame to high and cook until the milk is absorbed.
Add to it the prepared sugar syrup and rose water. When it starts to bubble, turn the flame to low and cover with a lid. Cook until the milk is absorbed and vermicelli is cooked completely
Take out in the serving dish, sprinkle with nuts, desiccated and decorate with silver leaf
Enjoy

Cheese cake

Cheese cake is something I had no idea about when I first came to the US. The first time I had it, I hated it. I was expecting the texture to be more like the pastry cake we used to find back in India, but it is sooooooooo different. But by and by I got used to the taste and now its one of my favorite deserts.

Please thing it is so difficult to make it and they just go buy it. I think its much healthier (if I may say so...wink wink ) to make it at home. And it is pretty easy also. So here is an easy recipe for Cheese cake

Cheese Cake 

Cheese cake

Ingredients for crust:

1. 11/2 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 8 crackers or 4 full length crackers from the pack)
2. 1/4 cup confectioners sugar
3. 3 tablespoons melted butter
4. 1 pinch salt

Ingredients for cheese cake:

1. 16 oz 1 pack  or 2 packs of 8 oz cream cheese at room temperature
2. 2 large eggs
3. 1 cup confectioners sugar
4. 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the ingredients of the crust and prepare a 9 inch round pan. Add the crust mix and press it onto the bottom and by the sides

For the filling, beat the cream cheese with the sugar well. Add the eggs and vanilla to the mix and mix again until everything is incorporated. Add the filling to the pie pan and bake for 20 minutes.

Cover the pan and bake for 20 more minutes or until a tooth pick comes out clean. 

Let it cool and serve as is or with some fruit topping

Semiyah Kesari

Semiyah, seviyah, semiyalu, vermicelli...call whatever you want in whatever language you speak are those little thread of wheat you can eat. They are yummy any way you make it. And today its a dessert I made with them called Kesari. My whole family loved it. Gonna be making more of it more often

Semiyah Kesari (Vermicelli cooked with Sugar)

Semiyah Kesari

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup very thin vermicelli (with which you make kheer)
2. 1/8 cup sooji
3. 1/2 cup sugar (if not using splenda use 1 whole cup)
4. 4 packets splenda
5. 2 teaspoons ghee
6. 1 teaspoon each of raisins and cashew (optional)
7. 1 teaspoon rose essence or 2 cardamoms

In a non stick pan melt the ghee or butter and fry the raisins and cashews and cardamom if using for a couple of minutes. Add 2 cups water and bring it to boil. Add a pinch of food coloring if desired. Reduce heat and add toasted sooji and vermicelli. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the sugar and sugar free if using and keep stirring until it starts to become thick. If cardamom was not used add the rose essence at this point Butter a deep dish and add the kesari to it and smooth the top. Let it cool a bit and cut it into cubes and enjoy

Ravva Laddu

When I was a kid, this used to be my favorite laddu...And there used to be a little store where I would walk with my brother hen I was too young to go by myself and later by myself and get one of these laddus. I had no idea that you could make them at home, until one day!!! My mom surprised me with these laddus....I was sooo happy...Those uncomplicated days of childhood.

Today, finally I introduced to to my kids and was very anxious, to see if they will like it ....I am a happy mom today....they love them too :)

Sooji Laddu (Semolina balls with dried nuts)

Ravva Laddu

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Sooji
2.  1 tablespoon each of cashew pieces, sliced almonds, raisins,poppy seeds (optional)
3. 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut coarse powder
4. 2 teaspoons ghee
5. 2 cardamom pods crushed
6. 1/4 cup each of milk, sugar (of more 

In a pan heat the ghee and fry the dry fruits/nuts along with the cardamom for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low and add the sooji and fry until it starts getting brown. Add the sugar and mix well. Add coconut and stir well. Cut the heat the add the milk and stir well. Put it on a plate and wait for 1-2 minutes. Take a handful in a palm and scrunch it up into a tight ball. Serve/ Enjoy