Bansi Rava Kesari

Bansi Rava is also called as Godumai Rava/ Samba Godumai/ Broken Wheat/ Dalia. It is rich in fiber and very nutritious. Kesari is usually made out of Sooji. Kesari/ Kesari bath is usually made of milk and sugar. But this Bansi Rava Kesari is made of jaggery. It is a very delicious and simple recipe. This is how I made it.

Ingredients:

Bansi Rava - 1 cup                                            

Jaggery (powdered) - 1 cup
Cardamom powder - 1 teaspoon
Cashewnuts - For Garnishing
Raisins - For Garnishing
Ghee - 4 Tablespoons
Water - As required





Method:

• In a Pan/ Kadai roast 1 cup of Bansi Rava in 1 table spoon of ghee.
• Then boil the Bansi Rava in about 2 cups of water or as required. Cook till it is completely cooked.
• In a different pan, add the Jaggery and add 1 cup of water and boil the Jaggery. 
• Once the Jaggery is boiled and dissolved completely, remove it from heat and strain out the Jaggery water.
• Mix the strained Jaggery water into the Bansi Rava, add 2 table spoons of Ghee and stir it well.
• Take a Tadka pan and add the Ghee into it. Once the Ghee is melted, add a few Cashewnuts and Raisins. 
• Then add this to the Rava Jaggery mixture and stir it well till the Ghee leaves out on the sides.
• Remove from the pan and serve it hot.Enjoy the Bansi Rava Kesari.

Carrot Halwa / Gaajar ka Halwa

Today Mom and me made yummy yummy Gaajar Halwa. It turned out to be so delicious. I had the halwa with a dollop of vanilla ice-cream and roasted nuts. It was a mini sundae - Desi style.How did I make it? Well, here is the story behind its making..

Ingredients


Grated Carrots - 2 cups
Whole milk - 2 cups
Sugar - 3/4 cup
Cashews - About 6-8
Clarified Butter/Ghee - 1/2 Cup
Cardamom Powder - 1/2 teaspoon

Method

• Take a heavy bottomed pan and add the ghee/ clarified butter. Once the ghee is warm, add the grated carrots and stir it till the raw smell of the carrot is gone.
• In another pan, boil 2 cups of milk and allow it to boil till it reduces to half the volume.
• Add this reduced milk to the carrots and stir it well for another 5-6 minutes.
• Then add the sugar and mix it well.
• Keep stirring the mixture and take care that the mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan.
• The halwa is done when the ghee starts leaving on the sides of the mixture.
• Add the cardamom powder and mix it well into the mixture.
• Take a tadka pan and add a little ghee to it and add the cashewnuts and roast them until golden brown.
• Garnish the Halwa with the roasted Cashews.

Eggless Chocolate cake

Baking a cake was always considered as a very cumbersome process. I would initially think that cakes can me baked only by professionals and the ingredients for the would not be available very easily.I was always of the opinion that the ingredients for baking a cake was not easily available, all cakes have to be baked using eggs and so on and so forth. It was when I was jobless in the first few months of my married life and the boredom of a housewife in the US led me to search for various recipes . I was so amazed to see the number of people involved in writing food blogs. I was truly awestruck.

Cooking and blogging often collectively called as "Blooking" are making news everywhere.It was when I was all alone and just idling at home, I realized that I could also write a blog and do something that was in my style. But it could not last for long as I got an admission into school and started my Master's program and I got so very busy. But I do make it a point to keep writing something on my blog here and keep it going.

One of the wonderful sites that I have come across for vegetarians and vegans and for all baking needs is http://www.chefinyou.com. This website is an amazing one with lots of efforts by DK. My Eggless Chocolate Cake is also tried and recreated from the same site by DK.I have used all the ingredients in the same quantity as mentioned in the above recipe with a few changes. I have changed the proportion by doubling the quantity of all the ingredients. But, the final product turned out as delicious as it was promised.I have made a few changes in the decoration part of the final cake presentation.

This cake can be made in a jiffy and is eggless. It can be a perfect cake during breakfast or tea-time and I am sure all the members at home - kids or adults will surely love it. Here is how I made it.

Eggless Chocolate Cake

Ingredients required:

All Purpose Flour / Maida - 2 cup

Cocoa Powder - 4 table spoon (I used Hershey's cocoa powder)

Baking Powder - 2 teaspoons

Baking Soda - 1 teaspoon

Melted Butter - 1 cup

Sweetened Condensed milk - 1 can

Vanilla essence - 2 teaspoons

Whole milk - 100ml

Vanilla Frosting - 1/2 can

Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup

m & m's - A few 

Method:

• Sift all the dry ingredients - All purpose flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and baking soda and mix all of these together so that they can be blended well.
• Add the remaining ingredients such as sweetened condensed milk, melted butter, vanilla essence and mix it well along with 100 ml of whole milk using a spatula or a whisk.

• Pour this mixture onto a greased baking dish that is of 8" in diameter.Tap the dish as you are pouring so that the incorporated air bubbles can be removed.
• Bake this at a temperature of 180°C or 360°F for roughly about 30 minutes.At the end of 20 minutes insert a fork in the cake to check if it emerges out clean.
• Once the cake is done, allow it to cool and unmould it from the baking dish.

• Once the cake is completely cooled, take a spreader or a butter knife and spread out vanilla frosting over the cake.

• Decorate it with some chocolate chips and m & m's.

• This cake is ready and looks absolutely delicious and tastes heavenly.